As the G20 Summit got underway in New Delhi on Saturday, China is attempting to change the narrative around its actions concerning the multilateral event. The country has refuted claims that it is trying to play the role of a 'spoiler' for the key summit being hosted for the first time by its regional rival India. The denial has come in the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping's decision to skip the important summit, instead choosing to send the country's Premier to New Delhi for the event.
In an editorial published on Saturday, to coincide with the start of the G20 Summit, the state-run Global Times alleged that it is the United States and its western allies that are actually trying to play the role of a spoiler for the showpiece New Delhi event.
The Chinese mouthpiece alleged the US and its allies want to "tear apart" and "castrate" the G20. The paper alleged the recent agreement at the BRICS Summit in South Africa to expand the grouping has not gone down well with the western world.
"Apart from dividing the Global North and South as well as inciting confrontation between West and East, US and Western public opinion has shown at least two major new characteristics for the upcoming G20 summit. First, they are keeping an eye on the BRICS mechanism after its expansion and hyping up its 'conflicts' with the G20 platform. Second, they try to provoke China-India conflicts by using India's presidency to hype the competition between the dragon and the elephant," the editorial read.
The Global Times, however, decided not to comment as to why Xi Jinping chose to skip the Delhi G20 Summit if the West was trying to hijack it. His presence could have actually "salvaged" the summit for China. It also chose not to react to the speculation that Xi did not want to appear to endorse India's successful hosting of the G20 Summit, which brings together the world's leading economies, by attending it.
The Chinese mouthpiece went on to speculate that due to the West's bid to bring its political agenda to a platform meant for economic cooperation, a joint communiqué may not be issued for the first time in G20's history.
Interestingly, the mouthpiece stressed that the West's bid to woo India is for their own benefit and is counterproducttive to the South Asian country's regional interests.
"Now, the US and the West have shown a gloating attitude over some geopolitical divergences, including those between China and India. They want to see deeper division and even fights. Such an unhealthy mindset is the archenemy of global cooperation mechanisms, including the G20," it said.
However, the Chinese mouthpiece would do well to remember here that it was China that sent the bilateral ties into a downward spiral by transgressing into into Indian territory in the months of April and May, 2020, just after the start of Covid-19 pandemic.
