G20 Summit: What is the signal from the position of the world leader?
Although the G20 leaders' summit mainly discussed climate, anti-epidemic, economic and international issues, it was more concerned about the position and expressions of the leaders when they took a group photo, because it could be a sign of a change in the relationship between countries.
At the recent G20 summit, Biden was reported with the headline "Biden stands aside", which seemed to imply that the current international standing of the United States has declined.
On October 30, the G20 Leaders' Summit kicked off in Rome. This is the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic that the leaders of various countries have reunited in person. In addition to the participation of the leaders of China and Russia through the virtual meeting, the other leaders also left a "family photo"**
Although the G20 is not an international organization, does not have a written charter and a permanent secretariat, there are still some principles in the group photo. Normally, the C position of the G20 group photo is usually the "troika".
In the "troika" group photo, the host is located in **, with the leaders of the next summit presidency on the right and the leaders of the previous summit presidency on the left, symbolizing close cooperation and seamless connection.
The positions of leaders in other countries are basically ranked according to the level of their positions and the length of time they have been in office. Normally, the G20 leaders will be divided into three rows, with the head of state in the front row and the head of state and representatives of international institutions in the back row.
However, the length of service can also be used as a basic "indicator" of position, and in the past, the leaders of traditional major countries have also been squeezed into a more marginal position.
At the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Trump was placed at the back of the first row because he had only been in office for a short time.
A similar situation happened to South Korea's ** Moon Jae-in, who was also placed on the side of the first row because he was not long in office. However, the group photo of the G20 Leaders' Summit is not always based on the number of years of service, and other factors will be considered.
For example, the country that holds the summit may flexibly adjust the position of each leader according to the friendly relations between countries and themselves.
At the 2015 G20 summit in Antalya, Saudi Arabia's new King Salman followed China and the United States in the leadership position, and next to the Turkish leader. This is because Turkey and Saudi Arabia are geographically close and have close cooperation and common interests in the fields of economy, trade, and counter-terrorism.
In addition, the theme of the meeting and the vision of each country for the future may also affect the position of the leader.
At the G20 summit in Hangzhou in 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was placed in the first row instead of the usual second row. This is because India held the rotating presidency of the BRICS summit that year, and having Modi in the front row can show that the summit attaches importance to the participation of emerging countries in global governance and improve the international status of emerging countries.
For example, if the theme of the summit is climate change, capital increase, etc., then the leaders of countries that provide more money or play a greater role in tackling climate change will be placed in the middle.
In addition, if the leaders of various countries have a request for a group photo position, it will also be taken into consideration, as long as it does not violate the general principle, the host country will generally coordinate and arrange.
So, what is so special about the "family photo" of this year's G20 Leaders' Summit?
In this year's G20 leaders' summit, Biden's position in the United States has attracted global attention. He was placed on the left side of the front row, next to the Congolese Tshisekedi.
While Biden's standing on the sidelines is not a problem in terms of years in office, in retrospect, Obama and Trump have never been on such a marginal position.
Even the United States** expressed dissatisfaction with this, saying that this position revealed Biden's embarrassing situation. This is because some of the measures taken by Biden after taking office have disappointed allies.
The selfish and irresponsible behavior of the United States has already aroused the discontent of the international community. The US-UK-Australia "AUKUS" agreement has made France feel betrayed, and the severe inflation and chain crisis in the United States have also made it look like it is going downhill, which has damaged the national credibility of the United States.
Before the group photo of the G20 leaders, Biden's gesture was not responded to by the leaders of various countries, and only Turkey's ** Erdogan was willing to shake hands with him. This behavior also caused the host Italy, to not take full advantage of its right to "flexible arrangements" and put Biden in the middle.
Although the organizers tried their best to avoid Macron's meeting with conflicting leaders, he was found to have met privately with Morrison. And Biden's actions to appease Turkey were endorsed by the United States**, although his place was arranged on the edge during the group photo at the G7 summit.
A few months ago, Biden was still in the right and left and right, but now he seems busy apologizing.
Aukus"The deal led to the collapse of the arms deal between France and Australia, and Biden had to apologize to Macron, admitting that he had behaved unwisely and lacked grace in the matter.
At the same time, the inflation problem in the United States and the ** chain crisis forced Biden to send Secretary of State Blinken to meet with Chinese representative Wang Yi to strengthen communication. Although the United States is still a global power, its embarrassing situation seems to indicate whether the United States, as the world's number one, will be able to retain its position.
The group photo session of the G20 summit attracted the attention of various countries, among which British Prime Minister Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the focus of attention due to their late arrival. After the leaders of other countries had already stood still, they hurriedly arrived, and Johnson directly "rushed" to the side of Macron, France, and was "dragged" by Trudeau in time, and Biden next to him also showed a "look at the excitement" expression.
In the following **, Johnson broke free from Trudeau's "shackles", "desperately" arrived at Macron's side, and grabbed Macron's arm tightly, and finally the two greeted each other with a fist bump of "old friends".
France seized British captains and barred British ships from its waters, and the two countries had a huge divide over fishing rights. Britain therefore issued a warning to France, saying it would "fight back" and asking the EU not to support France.
Despite the apparent silence of the EU countries, they clearly had a deep understanding of the conflict between Britain and France, as evidenced by the dinner seats arranged by Italy.
According to reports, at the Italian banquet on the evening of October 30, the leaders of various countries were carefully seated to avoid potential conflicts. Biden of the United States, Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom and Macron of France were placed on three sides of the quadripartite table, while Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was placed further away from Macron.
This seems to be to take care of Macron's emotions and avoid him coming face to face with conflicting leaders. However, even with the best efforts of the organizers, it is difficult to avoid all possible conflicts.
It was discovered that Macron and Morrison still met in private. Nonetheless, the arrangement shows the importance that the organisers attach to maintaining a harmonious atmosphere.
According to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, he took the initiative to talk to French Macron during the summit and said that the two greeted each other very pleasantly. However, the subsequent disclosures showed that Macron did not seem to show the enthusiasm he deserved.
Some have commented that Macron's eyes are full of "distrust" and "contempt" because there is no trace of a smile in his eyes, and the mask covers most of his facial expressions, making him look more serious.
In addition, it was also pointed out that from the point of view, Macron seems to be very dissatisfied with Morrison and has not shown his "leadership demeanor" with British Prime Minister Johnson at all.
Although Britain and France are now full of contradictions, they only smiled and took a group photo after they were only "superficially angry" at the summit, which shows that there is actually a lot of room for easing and repairing relations between the two countries, and it is unlikely that relations will break down.
However, the situation in Australia is different from that of France, and Macron's serious expression may indicate that the Franco-Australian relationship has not yet been repaired, and the relationship between Europe and Australia may be further alienated.
Unlike Australia, Biden seems to have successfully repaired relations with France, and according to **, Biden showed some "apologies" in a private meeting with Macron, which made Macron choose to laugh and grudge with Biden.
* It was also reported that when Biden met with Macron, he not only chose the navy blue tie and dark suit that Macron liked, but also arranged "lady diplomacy" to let his wife Jill "make an appointment" with Macron's wife Brigitte to ease relations between the two countries.
Although the future of Europe's relations with the United States may not be as good as it used to be, at least it will not become too "hostile". France will remain an ally of the United States. There are reports that Biden "scored a victory" in this summit, and it seems that he is busy apologizing to "save his respect".
However, everyone knows the current situation in the United States, and judging from the current situation, it may be difficult for the United States to achieve its goal of "regaining global leadership" through the summit.