President Biden claimed breakthroughs on a number of fronts as he wrapped up his first Group of Seven summit as president in Cornwall, England, a gathering marked by normalcy and lower-volume diplomacy after the tumultuous Trump years.
The leaders of the seven industrial democracies endorsed Mr. Biden’s pitch for a 15% global corporate minimum tax standard and pledged new steps to battle climate change and to supply a collective 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to the developing world.
The G-7 powers also issued an unexpectedly pointed rebuke of China in thei final communique, which condemned rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, called out Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, criticized Chinese trade practices and endorsed a fresh, independent investigation into how the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China developed into a deadly global pandemic.
Mr. Biden told reporters at the summit’s conclusion that it had been an “extraordinarily collaborative and productive meeting.”
“I felt there was genuine enthusiasm that America was back at the table,” he said.
Mr. Biden in his remarks took several swipes at his predecessor, saying the other G-7 leaders welcomed the U.S. shift on climate change because “we had a president who said it was not a problem.”
Although there had been resistance to some U.S. demands on confronting China, Mr. Biden said he was satisfied with the discussions in Cornwall on Beijing.
“I think there’s plenty of action on China,” he said. ‘ … I’m satisfied.”
“I think China has to start to act more responsibly when it comes to international norms, human rights and transparency.”
