Criticism reverberated back home over China’s decision to sit out the IMF meeting, claiming the snub on Japan cost Chinese top officials a “key opportunity” to promote its stance on global economic issues, Asahi Shimbun reports.
Contradictory to foreign analysts’ views that China’s move was a sign of its clout in terms of using “economic and political tools”, Chinese authorities claimed that Beijing was at the losing end. “Their absence is a tremendous loss,” a Chinese foreign exchange market analyst said. “China has politicized what is essentially a commercial issue. The international community will lose trust of the status of the Chinese market”.
Some say China should’ve used the IMF meeting to herald its economic views. Economics professor at Tsinghua University, Li Daokui, claimed he was attending the meeting “to not let host Japan show off,” adding that: “The meetings are an extremely important international stage and offer a valuable opportunity for China to convey its view.”
A Chinese economist backed Li’s remarks, saying, “Chinese will benefit more by participating and saying what they have to say.”
China pulled out its finance chiefs from the IMF meeting and sent deputies instead – a move considered as a shift from Chinese protocol.
