G7 ‘extra’ guest list reveals UK foreign policy goals – POLITICO

FALMOUTH, England – If the G7 summit was a wedding, Boris Johnson’s “plus four” guests would be the guests who attended the party on their knees but not the ceremony itself.

Tradition has it that the host of the G7, in this case the British Prime Minister, brings in a group of other leaders who are not part of the core group. So, on the second day of the rally in Cornwall, a mini-procession of leaders from Australia, South Africa and South Korea marched the sandy promenade across Carbis Bay beach to be greeted by Johnson and his wife. Carrie. (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unable to attend in person due to the dire COVID situation at his home.)

The group was carefully chosen, symbolizing one of the summit’s key messages – that there may be a broader alliance of nations outside the EU, and that this alliance should act as a counterweight to China.

Climate diplomacy is also a factor. All four countries are major coal producers, and the UK is hoping that in return for the high-level views and sea views it can do some diplomatic coaxing ahead of the COP26 climate summit later this year. in Glasgow.

But the list of “extras” has been met with a raised eyebrow by some who suspect the UK of trying to reshaping the G7 through the backdoor serve his own foreign policy interests – although Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said at the atlantic there were no plans to formalize the extended group.

Yet Global Britain has its own reasons for reveling in each member of the quartet, and the selection shows how the UK’s immediate foreign policy has become dominated by two overwhelming concerns: trade and vaccine diplomacy.

Australia

A trade agreement in principle is expected next week between Canberra and London, with Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister, who is due to dine in Downing Street on Monday evening. It would be a personal triumph for International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who is a fan of all things Australian and has had to deal with concern in Cabinet to highlight the deal.

However, according to trade officials, there are still issues to be resolved in order to secure a deal. While the more public divisions have been over market access for agricultural products, trade in services still presents sticking points.

The UK also strengthened ties with Australia – and conveniently made the EU look bad in the process – when it facilitated the delivery of 700,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in April, after Italy blocked a shipping during the low point of the vaccine war.

South Africa

While vaccine deployment is going more smoothly in the EU than at the start of this year, the summit’s attention was firmly fixed on vaccine deployment around the world, although not as quickly or as efficiently as many. would like. South Africa is the key to this effort, and Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s president – and until February the president of the African Union – had every right to expect a place of his at Carbis Bay.

Britain has not touted its ties with Africa as strong as it has at previous summits, given that it is currently facing a backlash at home and in the eyes of its G7 partners for reducing its foreign aid budget. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t significant advantages for the UK in having South Africa on board.

Ramaphosa’s presence allows Johnson to signal that African countries are included in the vaccine-sharing conversation, which is symbolically helpful as long as no one points out that the UK continues to resist one of their main applications: the temporary lifting of patents.

Because all roads lead to China, South Africa’s participation should also be seen as an attempt to squeeze the country close and mitigate Beijing’s influence through infrastructure investments and partnership. BRICS (which also includes India, Brazil and Russia). Johnson made this opening explicit back in january when he said he wanted the UK to be “Africa’s investment partner of choice”.

South Korea

In the midst of a global semiconductor shortage, it is only natural to invite neighboring China and its industrial rival to the party. South Korea plays a crucial role in global supply chains, especially when it comes to making essential tech products for the world’s smartphones and cars. The country also announced that it would invest nearly half a trillion US dollars in its semiconductor manufacturing earlier this month.

South Korea is also seen by some British officials as an obvious base for expanding vaccine production to reduce Asia’s dependence on Chinese vaccine factories and raw materials. Its attitude to trade is also traditionally more open and less protectionist than that of India, which halted vaccine exports after COVID-19 infection rates soared in the country.

But an attempt to use the summit to calm trade tensions with Japan could be another motivation. The impact on major economies of the global semiconductor shortage becomes clear, affecting production at American automakers like General Motors and the German Volkswagen and Daimler.

India

Not being able to come to the party in person is a not-so-subtle way to highlight how acute the impact of the pandemic is still in India. As an obvious counterweight to China in Asia, it is a key part of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt in trade and foreign policy. Britain is also trying to strike a trade deal with New Delhi to strengthen trade and security ties with the country. But it was not easy.

Infection rates have resulted in the country being added to the UK’s Red List, effectively banning travel and grounding Boris Johnson’s plans to meet Modi in person. India’s long-standing reputation for protectionism has also been underscored by the halting of exports of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute in Pune. It is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world and it was supposed to generate hundreds of millions of doses for the poorest countries under the COVAX program. Not to mention 5 million more doses for the UK

David M. Herszenhorn and Karl Mathiesen contributed reporting.

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