Sweeping G-20 communique glosses over big-picture issues
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Japan's emphasis on a consensus at the G-20 belies its pullout from the International Whaling Commission a day after the summit closed.
PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to train attention on the fact that the Group of 20 (G-20) leaders managed to come to a consensus and sign off on a declaration at the Osaka summit that ended on Saturday (June 29).
But it was a loose and sweeping communique over 13 pages that, when read between the lines, exposes deep fissures and little progress on the key issues of free trade and climate change.