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Leaders show mettle post-G20 meeting

Citing lack of sleep Russian President Vladimir Putin left the G20 early as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed business deals only a day after the Brisbane summit

Harry Bhaskara (The Jakarta Post)
Brisbane
Wed, November 26, 2014

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Leaders show mettle post-G20 meeting

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iting lack of sleep Russian President Vladimir Putin left the G20 early as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed business deals only a day after the Brisbane summit.

Behind the facade of world leaders'€™ photo ops lurk their strategies on the international stage. Putin'€™s early exit is like a statement of displeasure after he endured relentless attacks by his Western counterparts during the Nov. 15-16 meeting.

Throughout the summit, Putin, the downing of flight MH17 and support for Ukraine secessionists looming large behind him, had to swallow '€œstrong words'€ from leaders of Western countries. He appeared to have been sidelined during the meeting, always being seated some distance away from Tony Abbott, proximity being a privilege enjoyed by Indonesian President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

But a flotilla of naval ships that accompanied Putin to Australia sent a message that Russia is still a global power and it can do whatever it wants, Ukraine included.

US President Barack Obama stole the show by pledging US$3 billion for the Green Climate Fund, followed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who pledged $1.5 billion. Both leaders had wrong-footed Abbott who initially did not even wish to get climate change in the communique, let alone digging into his pocket.

Xi wasted no time signing a multi-billion dollar trade deal with Australia and to become the second Chinese leader to address the Australian Parliament in 11 years on Nov. 17.

Not to be outdone by his giant neighbor, Modi, who received a rock-star welcome from the Indian community signed a business deal and became the first Indian leader to address the Australian Parliament.

Jokowi increased the prices of subsidized fuel and installed Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama as Jakarta governor once he was home, reflecting his pressing domestic issues only a month into his presidency.

'€œChina is not comfortable with Canberra-Washington relations. This is a gesture that China has to make,'€ Dr. Steven Feng, a research fellow at Griffith Asia Institute (GAI), said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Griffith University campus discussion on China. '€œChina needs Australia. Being friendly with Australia is critical.'€

Speaker in the discussion, David Martin Jones, said that economic interdependence did not necessarily translate into a stable balance of power.

'€œIn the unstable world [we live in today], states will move to protection measures, an autarchic solution which is parallel to the 1930'€™s Great Depression,'€ said Jones, the Griffith associate professor of political science and international studies.

In his newly published book Asian Security and the Rise of China Jones talks about a more messy and confusing set of bipolar and multilateral arrangements dominating the world.

Paul Bloxham, chief economist with HSBC, said that China only started investing overseas in 2005 and it would double or triple its investments in coming years.

'€œChina'€™s economy is now 65 percent larger than it was six years ago,'€ he told a G20 Queensland Investment & Trade summit luncheon.

In a landmark free trade agreement with China, Australia'€™s professionals such as architects, engineers and lawyers will be allowed to work in China. Australians will also able to open hotels, tourist agencies, hospitals and nursing homes in China, home to 1.3 billion people.

In return, Australia is to increase the ceiling of obligatory review from its foreign investment authority for Chinese private purchases from the current $248 million to over $1 billion. Chinese companies will also be allowed to bring in their own workers for projects worth $150 million or over.

With trade worth $150 billion, China is Australia'€™s largest trading partner.

India is set to invest in Australia'€™s biggest coal mining venture next year and to import uranium for cleaner energy production. India'€™s Navy will also take part in joint operations with Australia'€™s under a closer security agreement.

The G20 which commands 85 percent of global GDP and three quarters of world trade is a diverse lot. Its members include developed and developing countries with a loose aggregations of G7 (Canada, Japan, France, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Italy) and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

In tackling global issues, this country mix yielded a three-page Brisbane communique which listed jobs growth, tackling climate change and tax evasion as priorities.

Key agreements include the Global Infrastructure Initiative to provide private financing for infrastructure investment worldwide; a commitment to create a more balanced male and female labor-force by 2025; to complete an implementation plan by 2015 on combating tax avoidance by multinational companies; contributions to the Green Climate Fund; an Energy Efficiency Action Plan and to advance the implementation of the international financial reform agenda.

Like presidential hopefuls on campaign trails, summits tend to promise more than they deliver. Hence, an army of experts was quick to douse the burning hopes of the global community.

Whether or not those priorities will lift off the ground will depend on individual member countries. Will their governments succeed in persuading their constituents and their parliaments to zero in on the priorities?

As Jokowi told a gathering of the Indonesian community in Brisbane, a solid political party is the most important thing for a country to move ahead. '€œThis is a bit difficult to achieve in Indonesia,'€ he said to the laughter from his audience.

It was a recipe given to him by Xi during the recent APEC summit in Beijing, he said.

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The writer is a journalist.

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