The G7 condemns China in the strongest terms as it steps up its response to Beijing

The G7 has issued its strongest condemnation of China as the world’s most advanced economies step up their responses to Beijing’s growing military and economic security threats.

According to a joint statement obtained by the Financial Times, in a wide-ranging criticism of China ranging from the militarization of the South China Sea to the use of “economic coercion”, the G7 urged Beijing to force Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

The G7 members said they were “gravely concerned” about the situation in the East and South China Seas and were “strongly opposed to any unilateral attempt 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 G7 members also said they were “ready to build constructive and stable relations” with Beijing, but recognized the importance of “sincere engagement”. . . and express our concerns directly to China”.

The statement is the G7’s strongest criticism of Beijing, which mentioned China in a statement for the first time two years ago when the leaders met in the UK.

At the three-day summit in Hiroshima, the United States and its democratic allies tried to project unity amid deepening global divisions caused by the war in Ukraine, the US-China dispute, global warming and the rise of artificial intelligence.

The increasingly tough stance against China comes after two years of the United States and Japan working with the other G7 countries to speak out against China’s military activities and economic pressure around Taiwan.

The leaders of Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom also warned of “increased uncertainty about the global economic outlook” and pledged to remain vigilant and flexible in their macroeconomic policies as global inflationary pressures continue.

On economic policy with Beijing, the G7 said its approach was “not designed to harm China” and “not to frustrate China’s economic development and development.” Member countries said the group was not interested in breaking away from China and was simply engaged in so-called “de-risking”.

But it said it would take steps to “address the challenges posed by China’s non-market policies and practices that distort the global economy” and “promote resilience to economic pressures.”

Regarding climate policy, the leaders agreed that, given the extraordinary effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, “state-supported investment in the gas sector may be appropriate as a temporary response” for Germany’s victory.

Berlin has pushed for the support despite opposition from the UK and France, which say it undermines the G7’s stated aim to divest from fossil fuels, and environmental groups charge that it would backtrack on net zero commitments.

As for the rapidly developing AI industry, leaders agreed to “commit to further develop multi-stakeholder approaches to AI standards development” and develop international standards for the sector.

The G7 also agreed to establish a “Hiroshima Process on Artificial Intelligence” – a group of 29 countries focused on the topic – by the end of this year to discuss governance, in partnership with the OECD and the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence , the intellectual questions. property rights and “responsible” use.