President Hu Jintao arrived in Berlin last night
to attend the outreach session
of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations' summit in northern
Germany.
Hu will attend a multilateral meeting of the leaders of the Outreach
Five developing countries - India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa in
addition to China - in Berlin today as well have a series of bilateral
meetings.
The annual summit of G8 countries - Germany (the current G8
presidency), the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy,
Canada and Russia - opened in Heiligendamm yesterday.
With the summit theme "Growth and Responsibility", G8 leaders will
discuss global warming and African development among other hot issues.
Hu will present China's propositions on climate change at the outreach
session.
There is quite a cloud hanging over this year's G8 summit, which is
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's first, and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair's last.
Apart from trying to tone down the war of words between the US and
Russia on a proposed American missile defense system in Europe, the
leaders are also likely to discuss Middle East peace, the Darfur issue,
Iran's nuclear program, and the future of Kosovo.
However, G8 members do not appear to have reached a consensus on some
issues. There are signs the Americans are starting to get serious about
climate change, but it is unlikely that concrete measures limiting carbon
dioxide emissions will be agreed on.
One topic, however, seems to be getting more attention than any other:
security. A 12-km metal barrier was erected and 16,000 police deployed to
ensure the summit is not disturbed.
