Biden tackles China’s ‘coercive’ lending at G20, Xi absent.

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to⁢ India on Thursday, where he plans to address China’s ‍”coercive and unsustainable lending” practices, among other issues, at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi that will bring‌ together the leaders of the world’s richest countries.

Beijing announced on Monday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will not attend the two-day summit, which will begin on Saturday.

President‌ Biden’s trip was also called into question after first lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Labor‍ Day. However, the White House announced on Tuesday that the president would still attend the summit as he tested negative and is experiencing no symptoms ⁣of the illness.

“The President certainly is going to test on a regular cadence,” White House press ⁣secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing‍ on Tuesday. She added that all travelers, including the president, will be tested before traveling to Asia.

The‍ G20 was formed​ in 1999 in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, and ⁢this will be⁢ India’s ​first time hosting the summit.

President Biden’s key priority at the crucial meeting, according to the White House, is to propose strengthening multilateral‌ development ⁤banks, particularly the World Bank and the IMF, as an alternative to China’s coercive lending program.

While China has become‍ the world’s largest creditor in recent years, its aggressive lending strategy under⁣ the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been criticized for its lack of transparency.

Since its launch in 2013, China’s BRI has ⁤poured billions⁣ of dollars into infrastructure projects across Africa, Latin America, Eastern​ Europe, and Asia. In recent​ years, however, Beijing has ‍been accused of ⁢using “debt-trap diplomacy” to lure many nations into its orbit.

“We believe that there should be a high standard of non-coercive lending options available to low- and middle-income countries,” White House national security adviser Jake​ Sullivan said at the press briefing on Tuesday.

That’s why the United States is championing “fundamentally reshaping and scaling up” these development banks, he‌ noted.

‘Not About China’

In an effort to avoid ⁢enraging Beijing, Mr. Sullivan downplayed‍ the main purpose of strengthening multilateral banks, claiming that it​ is not about⁣ China.

“The World Bank reform is not about China, ⁤in no small part because China is a ​shareholder in ⁣the World Bank,” Mr. Sullivan argued. “It’s for the entire international community.”

“That is not a negative agenda. That is an affirmative agenda, a positive agenda,” he added.

However, this was‌ in stark​ contrast to what Mr. Sullivan stated two weeks ago, when it was clear that the entire campaign was centered ​on countering China’s BRI.

“Given both the scale of the need and, frankly,⁢ the scale of ⁤ [China’s] coercive and unsustainable lending through ⁤the Belt and Road Initiative, we need to ensure that‌ there are high-standard, high-leverage solutions to the challenges countries are facing,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters during a conference call on Aug. 22.

Whether President Biden can unite other countries against the Chinese regime during the summit is unclear. Mr. Sullivan said ​the administration hopes G20 members ‍will back U.S. efforts to reform ‍development⁣ banks during the largest gathering of world leaders.

According ‌to⁢ Stephanie Segal, a senior fellow at ⁣the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the timing is right for‍ the United States to highlight those development banks as an alternative to China.

“China has ⁣historically been a⁣ source of bilateral financing for many countries in the emerging market and developing world. And I think that source of financing has certainly slowed, if ⁤not entirely dried up,” she said during a CSIS press briefing previewing the G20 Summit.

“I think it is a good⁣ moment for⁢ the U.S. to be able to kind of underscore those institutions and the U.S. commitment to⁤ those institutions as an alternative.”

Last year, the​ Group of‍ Seven (G-7) countries proposed a new infrastructure investment program for developing countries, known as the Partnership for Global ​Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), to compete with China’s BRI.

Italy, the sole G-7 country to join the BRI four years ago, has‍ recently announced its intention to withdraw from the program.

Putin, Xi to Skip Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t attend the 2022 summit in Bali, Indonesia, and will also skip this year’s meeting in ⁢New Delhi. At the conclusion of