G7 leaders meeting Friday in Italy are toughening their tone against China, warning Beijing to stop sending weapons parts to Russia and play by the rules on trade, according to a draft summit statement.
China has been at the center of Group of Seven talks in Puglia amid worsening trade relations between Beijing and the West and concerns that its equipment supplies to Moscow are fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We call on China to stop the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, which are inputs to Russia’s defense sector,” according to a draft statement seen by AFP.
The Group of Seven also took aim at what it called “dangerous” incursions by China in the disputed South China Sea, where concerns are growing about a military escalation between Beijing and its neighbors.
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“We oppose China’s militarization and coercive and intimidating activities in the South China Sea,” the statement said, using stronger language than at last year’s summit in Japan.
After a first day dominated by Ukraine, US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Britain and host Italy turned their focus to the world’s second-largest economy, a superpower whose outsize influence on geopolitics and global trade cannot be underestimated.
“The G7 countries are on the same page as China,” a Japanese government source told AFP.
“Harmful” excess capacity
Thursday’s talks, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, were marked by a strong show of G7 support for Kiev, with an agreement to use profits from frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a new $50 billion loan.
With the war in its third year, the G7 statement said the deal sent an “unmistakable message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will support Kiev for “as long as it takes”.
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But there were also tensions over whether abortion should appear in the final statement, with its explicit mention left out of the draft seen by AFP on Friday.
But worsening global trade relations set the backdrop for the summit, as evidenced by the European Union’s announcement this week of plans to impose new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Beijing denounced what it called “barely protectionist behavior” and said it reserved the right to file a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The US, Japan and the EU — which participates in G7 summits as an unofficial eighth partner — have all expressed concern over China’s so-called “industrial overcapacity.”
They say Beijing’s generous subsidies, particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles, are resulting in unfairly cheap goods flooding the global market.
This overcapacity threatens Western companies struggling to compete, particularly in the growing green technology sector.
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“We express our concerns about China’s persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-trade policies,” the G7 summit draft said.
It warned of “practices that lead to global leakages, market distortions and damaging overcapacity in a growing range of sectors”.
China dismissed the concerns, but Washington had pushed for a united G7 front.
The leaders also called on China to stop restricting exports of critical minerals used in key global industries such as telecommunications and electric vehicles.
Russia’s war machine
Security and defense concerns took center stage on Friday, particularly accusations that Beijing has helped expand Russia’s armed forces.
Washington has accused Beijing of aiding Russia’s defense industry — and thus its invasion of Ukraine — through joint production of drones and exports of machine tools needed for ballistic missiles.
The G7 also pointed the finger at financial institutions for refraining from supporting and profiting from Russia’s war machine, saying it would take “further measures to prevent and disrupt this behaviour”.
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A senior Biden administration official told reporters that the items being delivered to Russia harm not only Ukraine but pose “a long-term threat to the security of Europe.”
At a joint press conference with Biden, Zelensky said he spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who “gave me his word” that he would not sell arms to Russia.
“We’ll see,” added Zelensky.
The G7 said it was deeply concerned about broader security in the Asia-Pacific, where China’s confrontational tactics and militarization of islands in the South China Sea — as well as recent war games around self-ruled Taiwan — have raised fears of a possible conflict.
“We are gravely concerned about the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippine vessels,” the draft said.
The Japanese government source said it was vital for leaders in Puglia to send a clear message to Xi that the issue is not just regional but concerns all G7 nations.
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“All the (G7) countries know that we have to convey the message very frankly to the Chinese at a very high level,” the source said.
Source: AFP