Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) nations will outline steps on Saturday aimed at reducing risks from China while preserving economic ties, a day after they agreed to ramp up sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The heads of government of the world’s richest democracies are grappling with the challenges posed by China and Russia at a three-day summit in the deeply symbolic Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Hiroshima on Saturday to drum up support for his country’s defense effort. His arrival in the world’s first city attacked by an atomic bomb comes as nuclear threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin have unsettled the West.
The Hiroshima summit comes as G7 members are faced with the immense challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, notably over Taiwan.
Zelensky, wearing his customary olive green fatigues, stepped out of a French government aircraft and moved quickly to a waiting car, footage from Japanese broadcasters showed.
Moments later he tweeted: “Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine.”
His arrival comes after G7 members warned that countries attempting to use trade as a weapon would face “consequences,” sending a strong signal to China over practices Washington has long said amount to economic bullying.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes a selfie with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel as they board a ship toward to the Itsukushima Shrine with other (credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan/HANDOUT via REUTERS)French and European officials said it was crucial that Zelensky came in person first to the Arab League and now to the G7, where members of the Global South are attending, in order to outline Ukraine’s view as the victim of an attack by Russia and how he saw a peace settlement in the future.
“We have to use all the means to bind non-aligned states to the cause of the defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” a French presidential official told reporters.
Zelensky will hold bilateral meetings with G7 leaders, but significantly also the leaders of India and Brazil, two countries that have not distanced themselves from Moscow.
He is due to hold a session on Sunday with the G7 before a broader session with the Global South attendees.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago has also sparked fears in host nation Japan, Asia’s only G7 member, that China could take more aggressive action against neighboring Taiwan, an island Beijing claims as its own.
The G7 nations are looking to “de-risk, not decouple” from China, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Hiroshima.
The leaders would outline a common set of tools to address economic coercion, including steps to build more resilient supply chains and efforts to protect sensitive technologies through export controls and outbound investment measures, Sullivan said.
In a draft of the final communique seen by Reuters, G7 leaders agreed that China’s status as the world’s second-largest economy meant they had to continue to cooperate.
“We do not seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development,” the leaders said in the draft, which is subject to change.
China has voiced concern that the summit would turn into a “political show” against Beijing. China’s embassy in Tokyo issued a statement on the eve of the summit expressing grave concerns about recent signs of “negative” China-related moves at the G7 meeting.
‘War is not an option’
In Taipei on Saturday, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen pledged to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as China has stepped up military pressure on the island.
“War is not an option. Neither side can unilaterally change the status quo with non-peaceful means,” Tsai said.
Before Zelensky’s arrival, the G7 pledged to close loopholes that have allowed Russia to dodge sanctions by importing goods via non-G7 countries. The leaders said they had ensured that Ukraine had budget support through early 2024.
Zelensky is to meet separately with Japan’s prime minister and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – a leader who has maintained relations with Russia’s Putin.
US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders on Friday that Washington supports joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, in a significant endorsement for Kyiv.
G7 leaders agree to new initiative to fight economic coercion
The leaders agreed to establish a new initiative to counter economic coercion, and pledged to take steps to ensure that any actors attempting to weaponise economic dependence would fail and face consequences.
The initiative, dubbed Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion, will use early warning and rapid information sharing on economic coercion with members meeting regularly for consultations, the leaders said in a statement.
“The world has encountered a disturbing rise in incidents of economic coercion that seek to exploit economic vulnerabilities,” the G7 leaders said in a statement following a meeting in Hiroshima, Japan.
The statement did not identify China, but in details released on Friday that outlined the proposed initiative, the British government pointed to attempts by China to use its economic power in political disputes with Australia and Lithuania.
The statement also committed the G7 leaders to deepen cooperation on hardening supply chains and called for a bigger role for lower income countries in promoting economic resilience.
They urged all nations to adhere to principles of “transparency, diversification, security, sustainability, and trustworthiness and reliability” in building supply chain networks.
The group also agreed to deepen cooperation in information sharing as it looks to establish new standards for next generation technologies.
China’s response to the statement
China’s embassy in Britain warned the G7 countries that any words or deeds harming China’s interests would be met with “firm and resolute countermeasures.”
Yet China remains a key trade partner for the G7, meaning that even as they look to ease their exposure to China, including on advanced technologies that impact national security, they are unable to walk away from economic ties.
The G7 nations are looking to “de-risk, not decouple” from China, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Hiroshima.
In a draft of the final communique seen by Reuters, G7 leaders agreed that China’s status as the world’s second-largest economy meant they had to continue to cooperate.
“We do not seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development,” the leaders said in the draft, which is subject to change.
The G7 is also taking fresh aim at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pledging to close loopholes that have allowed Russia to dodge sanctions by importing goods via non-G7 countries. The leaders said they had ensured that Ukraine had budget support through early 2024.
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