A statement released at the leaders’ meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima said that with regard to China, which the G7 countries increasingly see as a threat to economic security, the group agreed that its status as the world’s second largest economy requires efforts to strengthen cooperation.
The statement stressed that “our policy approach is not intended to harm China, nor do we seek to thwart economic progress and development within it.” The Group of Seven has called for “stable and constructive” relations with Beijing.
But he called for measures to “reduce overreliance” in critical supply chains and counter “malicious practices” in technology transfer and data disclosure.
The statement stressed that efforts to diversify manufacturing supply chains and ensure stable access to strategically vital minerals and other resources are not aimed at dismantling trade relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
The G7 called on Beijing to work together to address challenges such as climate change, biodiversity, debt and financing needs of vulnerable countries, global health issues and economic stability.
a peaceful solution with Taiwan
The declaration reaffirmed the need for peace in the Taiwan Strait, and the G7 leaders stressed that they oppose China’s “militarization activities” in the Asia-Pacific region.
G7 leaders expressed ‘serious concern’ over the situation in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing is expanding its military presence and threatening to use force to assert control over self-governing Taiwan, and called for a solution peaceful to the crisis of China’s claim on Taiwan.
The Group of Seven stressed that “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait are “essential” to global security.
Ukrainian War
The G7 urged China to pressure Russia to end its war on Ukraine and withdraw its forces immediately, completely and unconditionally.
“We encourage China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter,” the statement said, especially direct talks with Ukraine.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Japan for diplomatic talks with G7 leaders, who previously announced tougher sanctions against Moscow in response to its 15-month war on Ukraine.
Nuclear proliferation fears
The statement expressed the G7’s concerns over nuclear proliferation after Russia’s threats of a possible use of nuclear weapons alongside the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran.
In the statement, the G7 countries, including France, Britain and the nuclear-armed United States, expressed their “commitment to building a world without nuclear weapons” through a “realistic, pragmatic and responsible”.
Hiroshima, where the summit is being held, was incredibly devastated after the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on it at the end of World War II 78 years ago. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in Japan’s lower house of parliament, said he chose the city as the venue for the world summit to draw attention to arms control.
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