China Tensions High on Agenda as Top G-7 Diplomats Meet in Japan

Tensions over China will be high on the agenda when top diplomats from Group of Seven nations start meeting on Sunday in Japan, according to a senior State Department official.

(Bloomberg) — Tensions over China will be high on the agenda when top diplomats from Group of Seven nations start meeting on Sunday in Japan, according to a senior State Department official.

Geopolitical challenges in Asia are set to come into greater focus now that Japan holds the rotating G-7 presidency, the official told reporters ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting, which comes about a month before US President Joe Biden and other leaders will head to Hiroshima for the annual leaders summit.

Tensions over Taiwan in particular are demanding attention after China again held military drills around the island following President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Around the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron said the European Union should avoid being dragged into a dispute with China by the US, highlighting divisions within the bloc. 

Macron’s courtship of President Xi Jinping, which included a state dinner and a rare visit outside the capital to the southern city of Guangzhou, contrasted with testy exchanges that marked German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s trip to Beijing last week. In a joint briefing with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, she warned that a military escalation in the Taiwan Strait would be a “horror scenario.”

Foreign ministers in Japan will compare notes from the recent visits to Beijing while seeking to find a common approach to the world’s second-biggest economy on issues like Taiwan, human rights, economic coercion and US moves to restrict China’s access to advanced technology like computer chips. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who scuttled a planned visit to Beijing after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over the US, downplayed concerns that leaks of highly classified information will stir distrust within the G-7. 

“Based on the conversations I’ve had, I have not heard anything that would affect our cooperation with allies and partners,” Blinken told reporters in Hanoi on Saturday after holding meetings with senior Vientamese officials. He and other foreign ministers were set to arrive on Sunday to the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa for meetings through Tuesday.

G-7 foreign ministers will also discuss how to ensure Ukraine has weapons and other defensive equipment it needs over the long term, the State Department official said, noting that the meeting is occurring as Russian war efforts stall and ahead of a reported Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Besides China, the official said, foreign ministers will talk about North Korea and ways to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations as well as the Quad, which includes the US, India, Japan and Australia.

There will also be extended discussions on how the G-7 can spur more global infrastructure building in developing nations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, the official said, adding that some announcements are planned for next month during the leaders’ summit. 

The G-7 includes the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Canada and Italy. 

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