When Donald Trump alluded to the Group of Two before meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in October, his choice of phrase was widely seen as Washington’s acceptance of Beijing as its peer.
Diplomatic observers said the US leader’s terminology at the time was ill-suited for Beijing’s strategic calculus. And following America’s military operation in Venezuela, China would appear more likely to reject any talk of a G2, they added.
Analysts also said Beijing would seize on the world’s growing distrust of Washington by presenting itself as a stable, non-interventionist power, particularly to Global South countries.
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For China, the US military operation in Venezuela has broader implications, according to Sun Chenghao, a fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.
“As cooperation and rules no longer offer stability, unilateral actions become Washington’s default option,” Sun said. “The G2 became more like a political metaphor, rather than a truly practical co-governance framework.”
The G2 concept is not new in Washington. When it was proposed in the 2000s it implied that Washington and Beijing would work together to address global challenges.
