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After G7 summit: China feels "slandered and attacked" and summons Japanese ambassador

2023-05-23T06:29:26.351Z

Highlights: China is angry after the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Beijing accuses the group of states of "manipulating global affairs" G7 countries do not want to decouple themselves economically from China, but they do want to reduce economic dependencies on Beijing. The G7 rejects China's territorial claims in the South and East China Seas. The Taiwan issue must be resolved peacefully and human rights must be respected in Tibet and Xinjiang. China must put pressure on Russia to stop military aggression and withdraw its troops from Ukraine.


China is angry after the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Beijing accuses the group of states of "manipulating global affairs".


China is angry after the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Beijing accuses the group of states of "manipulating global affairs".

Munich – The G7 summit, which ended on Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan, has diplomatic repercussions. Late Sunday evening, China's Foreign Ministry said that the country's deputy foreign minister, Sun Weidong, had summoned Japanese Ambassador Hideo Tarumi. Sun said at the meeting that the G7 "adheres to the camp confrontation and the mentality of the Cold War"; He accused the Japanese government of "slandering and attacking" China.

The governments of the G7 countries Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada and the USA as well as representatives of the European Union had focused on the challenges posed by China and the Ukraine war at their summit. Among other things, the joint summit declaration on China states:

  • In the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, the G7 wants to step up cooperation with China
  • The G7 countries do not want to decouple themselves economically from China, but they do want to reduce economic dependencies on Beijing and reduce risks in supply chains
  • Fair conditions must be created in trade with China
  • The G7 rejects China's territorial claims in the South and East China Seas. The Taiwan issue must be resolved peacefully
  • Human rights must be respected in Tibet and Xinjiang. The freedoms that China had assured the citizens of Hong Kong after the return of the city must be respected
  • China must put pressure on Russia to stop military aggression and withdraw its troops from Ukraine

China criticises G7: "No external force is allowed to interfere"

China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun said at the meeting with Japan's ambassador that the Taiwan issue and the human rights situation in Xinjiang and Tibet are "purely internal affairs of China, and no external force is allowed to say or interfere." The Japanese ambassador rejected the criticism from Beijing. It is "normal" for the G7 to take a stand on issues of common interest. As long as China does not change its behavior, the G7 will continue to address critical issues. "China should first take positive steps to address these issues if China demands that they not be pointed out," Tarumi said.

At the end of last year, Japan made a U-turn in its defense policy and announced, among other things, that it wanted to massively rearm. With regard to China and North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke at the time of the "most difficult and complex security environment since the end of the Second World War". Japan is not only concerned about Beijing's threats to Taiwan; territorial disputes over a small group of islands, which are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, also regularly cause resentment.

Beijing's state newspaper: G7 summit is "anti-China workshop"

The state-controlled Global Times wrote on Monday that the G7 summit had "degenerated into an 'anti-China workshop.'" The summit declaration "brutally" interfered in Beijing's internal affairs and "slandered China."

On Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry had already sharply criticized the G7 summit. A spokesman for the ministry said in Beijing that the group of states "undermines regional stability and suppresses the development of other countries." He also accused the G7 countries of promoting independence efforts in Taiwan, which "will lead to a serious impairment of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait." China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, although the democratically governed island nation was never part of the People's Republic. Again and again, Beijing threatens to unite Taiwan with the mainland by military force.

G7 countries

Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada, USA (represented in Japan by heads of state and government).

Until 2014, the group was called G8 - but Russia was excluded due to the onset of the Ukraine conflict, including the annexation of Crimea.

China seeks to close ranks with Moscow

The spokesman described the G7 as "a few Western industrialized countries that arbitrarily interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and manipulate global affairs." Beijing has long sought to replace the Western-dominated world order with a multipolar system in which China plays a key role.

Beijing's proximity to Moscow should also be understood in this context: Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, China has refused to condemn Russia's war of aggression and demand a withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied territories of Ukraine. Instead, Beijing accuses the West of prolonging the war by supplying weapons to Kyiv. So far, China has not taken any serious steps to end the war. Most recently, a half-hearted attempt by a Chinese special envoy who had traveled to Kiev and other European capitals was largely fruitless.

Volodymyr Zelensky surprisingly joined the G7 meeting in Hiroshima at the weekend. In their summit declaration, Ukraine's governments pledged to support the country "for as long as it takes". (sh)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-05-23

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