Biden to urge G7 to take unified approach to countering China – Axios

In recent years, there have been moves to create alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Examples include the proposed International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), the Blue Dot Network, and mentions of funding India SEA countries in the new Innovation and Competition Act. However, all of them have fallen short in their scope and feasibility. The BRI is a massive endeavor that Beijing began with the intent to direct the Global South world trade towards China over the course of decades, and any counter would require a similar scale of ambition.

As such, what is the Biden administration proposing that is different now? A combined effort of the US, the IMF, the World Bank, and other G7 countries to fund a global infrastructure initiative called “Build Back Better for the World” – a cheeky continuation of Biden’s campaign slogan. While we cannot determine the success of this nascent proposal, it is by far the most comprehensive and multilateral effort to provide a strategic alternative to the BRI thus far.

(…) Biden and other G7 leaders hope their plan, known as the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative, will provide a transparent infrastructure partnership to help narrow the $40 trillion needed by developing nations by 2035, the White House said. – Reuters

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There is also another consideration to this initiative that is not limited to just countering China. Large parts of the Global South are at critical risk of climate change-inflicted destabilization, and many of these states are ill-equipped to handle the problems that will inevitably arise in the coming years and decades. Combined with a projected population boom in the Sub-Saharan Africa, this leads to the high probability of a slew of massive refugee crises – and this potential is likely already weighing heavily in the minds of policymakers in developed countries.

Therefore, this move can be regarded as a twofold step to counter Beijing’s influence and to prepare poorer countries for climate change, with the focus on China being a shrewd and more convenient way to sell the idea to domestic audiences.