The Group of Seven has issued its strongest condemnation of China as the world’s most developed economies step up their response to what they say are the growing military and economic security threats posed by Beijing.
In a widespread criticism of China over everything from the militarization of the South China Sea to its use of “economic coercion,” the Group of Seven nations urged Beijing to push Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine in a joint statement.
The G7 members said they are “deeply concerned” about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and “firmly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.” They also called for a “peaceful solution” to the growing tension across the Taiwan Strait.
The countries also said they were “ready to build constructive and stable relations” with Beijing but recognized the importance of “engaging openly . . . and expressing our concerns directly to China”.
The statement represents the strongest criticism of Beijing by the Group of Seven, which first mentioned China in a statement two years ago when the leaders met in the United Kingdom.
At the three-day summit in Hiroshima, the United States and its democratic allies sought to present a united front in the face of a deepening global divide caused by the war in Ukraine, the US-China conflict, global warming and the expansion of artificial intelligence. .
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, arrived in Hiroshima on Saturday afternoon, before taking part in Sunday’s sessions devoted to the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky, whose presence was kept secret until yesterday, wrote upon his arrival on Twitter: “Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine. Security and cooperation strengthened for our victory. Peace will be closer today.”
A Ukrainian official traveling with Zelensky told the Financial Times that the main Ukrainian goals at the summit were to push for support for the Kiev peace plan; secure more military support and cooperation, particularly when it comes to air defenses and combat aircraft, with an eye on long-term guarantees; persuade allies to intensify sanctions pressure on Russia; and discussing further measures to hold Moscow accountable for its invasion.
The increasingly tough stance on China comes two years after the United States and Japan worked with other G7 nations to strike a tougher tone against China’s military activity around Taiwan and its use of economic pressure.
The leaders of Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the US and the UK also warned of “increasing uncertainty about the global economic outlook”, and pledged to remain vigilant and flexible in their macroeconomic policy as global inflationary pressure persists.
Regarding economic policy toward Beijing, the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations said its approach was “neither designed to harm China” nor to “thwart China’s economic progress and development.” Member states said the group was not interested in decoupling from China and was simply engaged in “de-risking”.
But they said they would take action to address “challenges posed by China’s non-market policies and practices, which distort the global economy” and “strengthen resilience in the face of economic coercion”.
In a separate statement, the G7 said the world had witnessed an “alarming rise in incidents of economic coercion”. It said it would establish a mechanism to “increase our collective assessment, preparedness, deterrence, and response to economic coercion” and step up coordination on detecting and responding to economic coercion in line with its own legal systems.
China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the “de-risking” strategy by the Group of Seven industrialized nations was unnecessary: ”China brings the world opportunities, stability and assurance, not challenges, disruptions and risks.”
On climate policy, the leaders agreed that, given the extraordinary effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, “publicly subsidized investment in the gas sector could be appropriate as a temporary response”, in a victory for Germany.
Berlin has pushed for such an endorsement despite opposition from countries including the United Kingdom and France, which it says undermined the G7’s goal of moving away from fossil fuels, and accusations by environmental groups that it would amount to a rollback of net-zero commitments.
Regarding the rapidly evolving AI industry, the leaders agreed to “commit to further developing multi-stakeholder approaches to developing AI standards” and to developing international standards for the sector.
The Group of Seven major industrialized countries also agreed to set up a “Hiroshima Artificial Intelligence Process” in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence, a group of 29 countries focused on this topic, by the end of this year, to discuss governance and intellectuals. Ownership rights and “responsible use”.
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