Newspapers in the G8 countries, Africa and countries invited to the G8 summit as observers are largely sceptical about the chances of real progress being achieved on the issues of African development and climate change.
A Russian commentator believes that writing off Africa's debts goes against Moscow's interests, a Brazilian paper calls on the G8 to tie Haiti to Africa for debt relief, and an Indian editorial tells G8 leaders nuclear power is the way ahead.
All indications are that the response [of the G8 nations to African poverty] will be very far short of the expectations of an Africa asphyxiated by debt and by the inequality of international trade. A different conception of development is now being demanded by Africans and the general public, who now increasingly reject this neo-liberal globalisation.
France's L'Humanite
An Africa swamped in despair and misery is a time-bomb... The political will shown by the G8 has all the more chance of lasting because it is being done in the name of well-understood interests. Oil for the Americans, leadership for the French and everyone's fear of seeing new competitors come on the scene, like China... Philanthropy is not automatically cynical, but it is rarely free.
France's Liberation
You have to be sceptical, faced with the sheer scale of global poverty. Those who fight must expect pain, those who fight make sacrifices [but] little of this can be seen in the policies of the North towards the South. No, the wealthy are not really fighting for the poor.
Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung
In the language of diplomacy, the words of the two co-hosts [Blair and Brown] about the summit starting tonight near Edinburgh sound like a threat to their seven illustrious guests: if the summit fails to produce a concrete and relevant deal on aid to Africa and the defence of the environment, it will be clear to all who bears the responsibility
Italy La Repubblica
One can just imagine with which spirit Queen Elizabeth will offer tonight the official dinner to the eight heads of state and government after the malicious insults of recent days. In the formal act inaugurating the Scottish G8, the noblesse of the monarch or her sense of humour will be needed to greet Jacques Chirac who, with his bad-mouthed French nationalism, despises British food.
Milan's Corriere
Writing off debts is a noble cause but it seems to me that Russia's participation in it directly contradicts our national interests. It turns out that Moscow is promoting the bankrupt Soviet doctrine of helping the countries of the so-called 'noncapitalist path of development' and 'socialist orientation', although (in UN terminology) it itself belongs to the category of developing countries... We should not write off debts but collect them in the form of various items of African export (we have the relevant experience), transforming them into investment, etc. Otherwise, we would be bleeding our own country for the sake of belonging to a prestigious international club.
Commentator in Russia's Novyye Izvestiya
In all the discussion about Africa's poverty and ill-governance, one of the most encouraging signs has been the extent to which Africans themselves seem ready to grasp their own development future... Trade is so much more important than aid... it is trade that will provide the real litmus test of the West's intentions.
Britain's The Independent
While the United States devotes less of its wealth to foreign aid than the other nations at the talks, it has already tripled aid to Africa since 2000. But this new giving is increasingly dependent on proof that its recipients are controlling corruption and governing wisely... That this tough-love approach is rapidly becoming conventional wisdom is one measure of the turnabout in the approach to foreign aid since the Cold War, when both sides showered cash on African allies with scant regard to how much was stolen or wasted.
Commentary in The New York Times
The Live 8 concerts' appeal is turning into a dud. Half of the G8 countries, Canada and the United States among them, have no intention of boosting their financial assistance to Africa. Next on the summit's failure list is a deal on climate change. With the United States reaffirming its disdain for anything that "looks like Kyoto," to use George W. Bush's words, the best the rest of the G8 can look forward to is a puffed-up statement on "action" needed to control greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada's The Globe and Mail
Something must be done to alleviate the miserable conditions which [Africa's] 850 million people face each day. It is incumbent on developed countries to extend a helping hand.... However, prevailing conditions in Africa mean that progress is slow, which we find exasperating. Also, we in the news media cannot be said to have paid sufficient attention to the problem as our interest has been taken up by other great events. We dearly wish to extricate ourselves from our habit of paying attention to Africa for only a brief moment and then forgetting about it... Taxpayers must understand the dire straits facing many African nations, otherwise assistance may end up as an empty slogan. Seen in that light, political leaders bear a heavy responsibility.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun
AFRICAN REACTION
Give poor nations space to grow - Public opinion and the unprecedented Live 8 concerts around the world have succeeded in putting the plight of the poor firmly on the agenda of the world's richest nations... The best outcome for poor nations is a commitment from the G8 to allow them the space to create their own wealth and to stand on their own feet.
South Africa's Cape Argus
The [G8] meeting will almost certainly ensure a historic international push to combat poverty in Africa... The greater pity is that trade is not part of a coherent G8 package... A real political will to help Africa has to include a commitment to open markets. Sadly, the G-8 is divided on this.
South Africa's Business Day
The poverty in many African countries is mainly attributable to bad governance and corruption, not scarcity of resources... However, the quandary Africa finds itself in is not just due to bad governance and corruption. There is the other bigger issue of justice and fairness in trade... If the G8 countries want to help Africa... they must make the playing ground level so that trade can be carried out freely and for mutual benefit.
Kenya's Standard
The continent will never be taken seriously in the comity of nations until it puts the begging bowl aside and aggressively moves to take its rightful place as a peer in global commerce and industry... Our leaders must go beyond sitting back and waiting for Western leaders and institutions to take the initiative in crafting strategies designed to pull Africa out of its quagmire of poverty
Kenya's Nation
One of the problems about such high level events is that the issues often disappear into rhetoric... As the eight most powerful men prepare to discuss the challenges of the world... we also call on national governments to put in place practical efforts to help the world's orphans.
Commentary in Uganda's Daily Monitor
To get the stingy and selfish rich to feel for the neglected poor must be of some divine intervention... Blair toured Africa and saw endemic poverty himself... Mr Blair has not had any better opportunity than now to start a new revolution and change history...God has decided to intervene.
Ghana's The Daily Dispatch
All eyes are on Gleneagles this week... The question now is not whether the G8 leaders would confirm the cancellation or not. That is more or less a fait accompli... The big question is what are we going to do with the opportunities that would be freed.
Ghana's Accra Daily Mail
REACTION FROM OBSERVER COUNTRIES
During the G8 meeting, Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will suggest that Haiti be included in the package of financial aid for African nations... Lula's proposal is not due to humanitarian motives alone (the fact that, in terms of poverty, Haiti is as poor as the poorest African countries, or more so), but also to the practical matter of helping Brazil itself to emerge from the quagmire in which it has been mired by heading the troops that are attempting to bring peace to the Caribbean country. To date, the developed countries, which had promised to aid the [UN] peacekeeping mission financially, have not kept their promises. Committing the G8 to the Africa/Haiti operation would be the best way of ensuring that they will finally do so.
Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo
Although exempting debt can stimulate the economies of these poor nations, they will nevertheless probably have to apply for fresh loans to stimulate growth... the G8 will waive debts according to whether a democratic system has been adopted... It is Western countries that judge whether another nation is corrupt or not. This provides an opportunity for Western countries to interfere with the internal affairs of African nations via debt negotiations.
Commentary in China Daily
Inviting China to the G8 meeting demonstrates the nation's important position in the world economy... China has attached great importance to cooperation with the G8 and has actively participated in related activities... By actively participating in multinational co-operation, China can not only safeguard its own interests, but also play a constructive role in formulating international strategies... But as China's development still has a long way to go, it is not in China's interests to join any organisation that would mean sharing responsibility and obligation that is not matched by economic strength... The strategy of co-operation while keeping its distance will both ensure China's relative independence and help the nation avoid being marginalised.
Commentary in China Daily
It remains to be seen whether Blair's plans will be passed at the G8 summit. Though Blair has done a lot of lobbying beforehand, the effect does not seem to be ideal. In particular, the US attitude could become a major obstacle. On 4 July, President Bush made it clear that he will put American interest first at the G8 summit. Although Blair is Bush's most reliable political ally, as long as the US national interest is involved, Bush will never care about his old friend's standing.
Commentator in Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao
Just as the G8's concerns have evolved with the changing world, it is time to consider updating its membership by bringing in new, rising global powers. The most obvious candidate is China. India is another. The inclusion of either or both nations to form a G9 or G10 would not only make the world body more representative, but also allow it to tackle humanity's shared problems more effectively.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
Sustained development and environment protection are the two main issues on the [G8] agenda. Keeping these two issues in mind, India will appeal to these nations to encourage production of nuclear energy. This will help in checking the rise in the world's temperature, and the greenhouse gases from polluting the environment. At the same time, export control regulations should be relaxed in cases of export of necessary equipment and technology to responsible countries like India. Apart from India, heads of states of Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico have also been invited to this meeting. All these countries will require enormous quantity of energy in the future. That is why India has worked out the strategy for a joint appeal to the developed countries to give priority to the program of producing electricity from nuclear energy.
India's Navbharat Times
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