South China Sea Dispute: China And America Are Counting Their True Allies

As the G20 meeting gets under way in Hangzhou this weekend, America and China are counting their true allies on the South China Sea dispute, the top item on the unofficial agenda of the meeting. This week, America got India on its side, following a high profile visit to New Delhi by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. And China convinced America’s neighbor and close ally Canada to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, and remain silent on the dispute. That’s certainly bad news for globalization and world financial markets, and will steer attention away from the G20’s official agenda, which targets a long list of issues facing the global economy. Besides, forcing countries to take sides can dampen the spirit of globalization altogether, undermining the promotion of trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Agreement – which President Obama has been campaigning for.