Global Courant 2023-04-18 09:56:08
KARUIZAWA, Japan — The Group of Seven (G-7) industrial powers said on Tuesday they were more united than ever as they criticized China’s added pressure on Taiwan and Russia’s threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus while it is at war in neighboring Ukraine.
“The strength of solidarity between G-7 foreign ministers is at a level never seen before,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference after organizing a meeting of the group in the Japanese resort of Karuizawa.
The show of unity comes after French President Emmanuel Macron this month said the European Union must reduce its dependence on the United States and warned against getting sucked into a crisis in Taiwan.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunited, by force if necessary. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says only the people of the island can decide their future.
The G-7 communiqué highlights how the two-pronged issue of Russian military intervention and fears of similar action by China against Taiwan were central to the three-day meeting.
The group, made up of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada, described Russia’s threat to place nuclear weapons in Belarus as “unacceptable”.
It said that “any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Ukraine would have “serious consequences”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that Russia would station so-called shorter-range tactical nuclear weapons as NATO’s military alliance expanded into Russia’s borders.
It was the first time since the end of the Cold War three decades ago that Russia proposed to station nuclear troops in another country, raising the stakes in its deepening standoff with the West over Ukraine.
The G-7 ministers also agreed that peace and security in the Taiwan Strait was critical and opposed militarization of the South China Sea.
They called on Beijing to act as a responsible member of the international community. REUTERS
