The 2017 G7's Summit Worked for China and the World

By John Kirton

The 43rd annual G7 summit, held in Taormina, Italy, on May 26-27, 2017, was centred on a single question: would the leaders of the world's most powerful democracies be able to tame the new internationally experienced, radical Republican US president Donald Trump to keep the core practices of global cooperation on the critical security, development and economic challenges of the day?

In the end they did. Together, Trump and his closest allies produced a summit of substantial success, led by its strong achievements on terrorism and gender equality, backed by advances in the broader security, sustainable development and economic domains. They agreed on the G7 Taormina Statement on the Fight Against Terrorism and Violent Extremism, the comprehensive G7 Taormina Leaders' Communiqué, the innovative G7 Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Economic Environment, and the G7 People-Centered Action Plan on Innovation, Skills and Labor. There they made 171 precise, future-oriented, politically binding promises, well above the average of 110 that the annual G7 summit had produced since its start in 1975 and the average of 57 from the annual summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) since its start in 2009. The 38 promises in the statement dedicated to the compelling current threat of terrorism captured most of the attention. But the 60 in the Roadmap on gender — over one third of the total — may well prove more important in the longer term.  

The communiqué's preamble reaffirmed the G7's distinctive foundational mission of promoting democracy and human rights and added, as core values, sustainable development and, for the first time, culture. It proclaimed the progress from globalization and recognized the need to share its benefits more widely, and do more to "make poverty history," end hunger, create a cleaner and safer environment, and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In doing so, it adopted the core values of the larger G20, whose summit Chinese president Xi Jinping hosted in Hangzhou last September, of making globalization work for the benefit of all. It also heralded "the transformative power of culture, gender equality, diversity and inclusion, education, science, technology and innovation." Together these were central messages that both President Trump and President Xi could enthusiastically endorse.   

They could also do so on many of the agreements on key issues made throughout the communiqué. On terrorism, G7 leaders pledged to eradicate ISIS and similarly inspired radicalism anywhere in the world, committing themselves to the "final destruction" of ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and beyond. They promised to "strengthen measures" to end North Korea's nuclear and missile program. The passages on the East and South Chinese Seas were diplomatic, calling for restraint and for all to refrain from provocative or escalatory moves. 

Trade was where Trump was tamed and thus where China triumphed the most. Overcoming the transatlantic disagreements that had prevented consensus in the G7's lead-up ministerial meetings, the leaders produced a robust collective message. They used balanced phrasing that included Trump's core concerns, and affirmed their need for "free, fair and mutually beneficial trade and investment." They then promised to "keep our markets open and to fight protectionism" so trade could work "to the benefit of everyone." They also pledged to improve the World Trade Organization and improve "social, labor, safety, tax cooperation and environmental standards throughout the global economy and its supply chains." 

On the highly divisive, appropriately high-profile issue of climate change, the summit did better than many had expected. Following the leadership of President Xi Jinping and U.S. president Barack Obama at the G20's Hangzhou Summit, G7 leaders advanced the effort to control this urgent, existential threat. They wisely began by framing the issue as one of energy security and pointed to the growth and jobs that clean technology could bring. They noted that the United States was reviewing its climate policies, but that all other members "reaffirmed their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement." They would not wait for the United States and would go it alone if need be. They then said, now with Donald Trump back in a once-again united G7 club, that "in this context we all agree on the importance of supporting developing countries." To be sure, this was a very small, but still necessary, step forward in the urgent task of improving as well as implementing the Paris Agreement. 

Xi Jinping was not at the G7 table at Taormina. But his country and his people are better off because of what Donald Trump and his fellow G7 leaders did there. And what they failed to do shows how much China will be looked to for leadership when the G7 leaders again assemble, now with all their G20 colleagues, at the G20's Hamburg Summit in five weeks. There all will look once more to President Xi for leadership on controlling climate change, so that he could bring to life his vision of an ecological civilization, not just for China, but for the whole world.

The author is a professor of political science and the director and co-founder of the G7 Research Group, co-director and founder of the G20 Research Group.