WHY is China’s leader Xi Jinping skipping the crucial G20 Summit in Delhi, India?
President Xi, who had never previously missed a G20 conference, would be absent in India in the midst of China’s ongoing territorial claims against the host country.
There is a disputed 2,100-mile-long de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control.
India has rejected the territorial claims made by China in maps, and there have been efforts to de-escalate the border dispute.
China also has acrimonious relations with several of the G20 countries, including the United States.
US President Joe Biden was reportedly looking forward to meeting his Chinese counterpart along the margins of the G20 Summit.
In addition, there are major internal issues in China, including a declining economy and a housing crisis.
China would be represented at the talks by Premier Li Qiang, but it is well known that Chinese power is centred around President Xi.
One analyst said the leader prefers to attend conferences in which China is dominant.
The next formal opportunity for President Xi and Biden to meet is at November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco, USA.
But already a Chinese official has said that Biden must “show sufficient sincerity to justify President Xi’s attendance.
The G20 Summit in Delhi would proceed without the Chinese leader but with the participation of other global heads and the European Union.
