‘Funeral Vibe’: China Mocks ‘Deflated’ G7 Summit

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper predicted on Friday that the Group of 7 (G7) nations, a coalition mostly made up of America and European states, would soon lose its relevance as “internal divisions” challenged its unity, describing coverage of this year’s summit as having a “funeral vibe.”

The G7 Summit, currently underway in Italy, has so far focused largely on addressing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, as to be expected from an organization dominated by European powers.

The White House has repeatedly stated that President Joe Biden was also expected to discuss the ongoing threat communist China poses to the free world, both geopolitically – through support for Russia – and economically.

The G7 summit follows a smaller conference of foreign ministers this week representing China’s answer to the G7, the BRICS coalition, a grouping of mostly rogue states united to undermine the power of the U.S. dollar and challenge Western interests at the United Nations and other venues.

From right, U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Council President Charles Michel watch a skydiving demo during the G7 world leaders summit at Borgo Egnazia, Italy, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

While the Global Times did not mention BRICS, its coverage of G7 indicated that Chinese analysts see an opportunity for rivals to replace the group – which includes most of the world’s largest economies, with the exception of China – in global relevance.

“This year’s G7 summit has just kicked off, and it is the Western media that are the first to seem deflated, with some even giving off a funeral vibe for the G7,” the state newspaper claimed, citing examples of leftist outlets in the United States and Britain:

The Politico says that “this week’s gathering of G7 leaders in Italy looks more like the last supper than a display of Western power.” CNN describes the meeting as G7 leaders gathering in Italy to “escaping political peril at home,” and questions how effective the G7, referred to by US President Joe Biden’s aides as the “steering committee of the free world,” can actually be amid anger and discontent from their own populations. “Does the G7 have any power?” When BBC asks the seemingly calm question, it also displays a sense of helplessness behind it.

The state newspaper suggested that the reason for concerns appeared to be disagreements at the conference on several issues, including challenging China’s attempts to flood foreign economies with cheap, slavery-tainted goods to destroy local industries.

“‘Some European countries have very intense commercial relations with China’ and ‘are anxious to avoid a trade war,'” the Global Times claimed, without citing any particular source for the quotes.

“It’s no wonder that even before the summit convenes, various internal divisions within the G7 have been brought to light through various channels,” the state outlet continued. “In general, when the US proposes one thing, Europe pushes back with another.”

The Global Times predicted “disappointment and anger from Europe toward the US” would make this year’s G7 summit unproductive, and ultimately the G7 would be “closed off” from the world.

Contrary to that assessment, G7 host Italy welcomed a wide variety of world leaders to the summit this year, including the leaders of BRICS members India, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in attendance, as are Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pope Francis, Argentine President Javier Milei, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Prior to expanding the summit to non-G7 members on Friday, the organization reportedly spent much of its time on Thursday addressing the situation in Ukraine. Reports indicate that the G7 will implement a plan to give Ukraine a $50-billion loan secured using frozen Russian assets in the West.

While agreements on Ukraine appear to have come out of a general consensus among the members, other topics – as the Global Times noted – appeared to require more discussion. The issue of challenging China’s economic inroads in Europe, an unnamed senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday, will be prominent in discussions towards a joint communique following the end of the summit.

“There will be an opportunity to discuss the PRC [China], as well, and the troubling support that the PRC has provided in terms of dual-use equipment and goods to Russia to advance Russia’s defense industrial base,” the official said, “things like optics, nitrocellulose, microelectronics, the sorts of items that go directly to the production of armaments that are used not just in Ukraine but that pose a long-term threat to the security of Europe.”

“China’s support for subsidies, I should say, for electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and other items have contributed to overcapacity in just about every Western market, and it’s of concern to all of the G7 countries,” the official added. “So that will be reflected in the communiqué. And then actions that will follow from that will be taken individually by G7 countries.”

The official did not respond with any clarity on the issue of abortion, which was reportedly among the most contentious issues at the summit. While the leftist leaders at the summit were seeking to add support for abortion to the joint communique, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reportedly opposed doing so and convinced the other parties not to add language in support of “access to safe and legal abortion.” The abortion issue reportedly caused the most discord between Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Biden himself has also prompted several headlines for footage appearing to show him behaving erratically. The Times of India, for example, described a video of Meloni appearing to direct Biden towards a group photo on Thursday as “embarrassing.”

The joint communique has yet to be published at press time, as the core G7 members are currently meeting with their invited world leader guests.

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