China Disagrees With US on Russia’s Exclusion From G20

U.S. President Joe Biden arrives for the welcome ceremony on the first day of the Rome G20 summit, on October 30, 2021 in Rome, Italy. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden said, after attending an emergency NATO summit on March 25, that he believes Russia should be expelled from the G20 due to its invasion of Ukraine, and that he has discussed this issue with some nation leaders. China said it would back Russia staying in the G20.

Poland said on March 22 that it had proposed to U.S. business officials to expel Russia from the G20, saying the proposal had received a positive response.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on March 24 that Australia agreed with the U.S. assessment of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin shouldn’t be allowed to attend this year’s G20 summit. “I think we need to have people in the room that aren’t invading other countries,” he said. “The idea of sitting around a table with Vladimir Putin... for me, is a step too far.”

As early as when it was reported that European countries and the U.S. talked about expelling Russia from the G20, the Chinese communist regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson said at a regular press conference on March 23  that Russia was an important member of the group, and “no member has the right to expel membership of other countries from the group.”

(L-R) Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visit the Trevi fountain on the second day of the Rome G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 31, 2021. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

Experts believe that China is showing a very different position from the United States and other western countries, which may also set off the latest wave of rivalry between them at this year’s G20.

Wei Baigu, an associate professor at the Institute of Russian Studies at National Chengchi University in Taipei, told VOA that China may also have other considerations in supporting Russia in the G20. China is the rotating host country of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Forum this year, and the annual meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by China will also be held in September. Therefore, China, which needs Russia to participate in the grand event, may lose Russia as an ally if it does not express its support for it in the G20.

Chang Fu-chang, an associate professor at the Institute of International Studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, said that Biden’s support for the expulsion of Russia from the G20 after the NATO summit was to isolate Russia, and make it impossible for Russia to use the platform of the G20 to speak about its agenda.

In addition, he said the NATO summit demanded that Putin stop the war on Ukraine immediately, China not support Russia in war, and said that Belarus should stop the accomplices. The strong message is to prevent the three countries from forming a “dictator military alliance.”

Indonesia’s foreign ministry declined to comment on calls to exclude Russia from the G20.

Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Lyudmila Vorobieva, who currently holds the G20 presidency, said Putin plans to travel to Bali, Indonesia, to attend the G20 summit in November.

Regarding President Biden’s remark about Russia’s expulsion from the G20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 25, “The G20 format is important, but in the current circumstances, when most of the participants are in a state of economic war with us, nothing terrible will happen.”