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US hollows out G20 agenda, casts Miami summit as ‘backdrop for Trump-Xi meeting’: sources
🇨🇳 China /Elections & Politics

US hollows out G20 agenda, casts Miami summit as ‘backdrop for Trump-Xi meeting’: sources

From South China Morning Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Unnamed sources Ongoing story
  • The United States is reportedly seeking to diminish the G20 agenda, focusing it on issues like immigration and 'fair trade'.
  • Sources suggest the US aims to use the December summit in Miami as a backdrop for a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi.
  • The US has allegedly pushed to remove language on poverty reduction, energy transition, and gender from the summit's declaration.

The United States is allegedly working to narrow the agenda of the upcoming G20 summit in December, with sources indicating a desire to transform the event into a mere "backdrop" for a potential meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Miami.

into a backdrop

— sourcesDescribing the US intention for the G20 summit in Miami.

According to two delegation members who spoke on condition of anonymity, the US has actively pushed to remove key topics from the summit's draft Joint Declaration. These reportedly include language on poverty reduction, energy transition, and gender equality. Instead, the US is said to favor focusing the agenda on immigration, transnational crime, terrorism, foreign investment, and what it terms "fair trade."

pressed to strip the text of language on poverty reduction, energy transition and gender

— delegation memberDetailing the US's alleged efforts to narrow the G20 agenda.

These sources described the US's approach as favoring its own interests over those of smaller, developing economies. They characterized the summit's preparation as an effort by the Americans to create a "pretty backdrop for a photo of Trump and Xi," suggesting a prioritization of bilateral relations over the broader G20 mandate.

favouring its own interests over smaller, developing economies

— delegation memberCharacterizing the US approach to the G20 negotiations.

The negotiations, involving the group's top negotiators known as sherpas, have been ongoing. The second series of sessions took place in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. The South China Morning Post reached out to the White House and the US State Department for comment, but neither had responded immediately.

a pretty backdrop for a photo of Trump and Xi

— delegation memberFurther illustrating the perceived US priorities for the summit.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by South China Morning Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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