Global Courant 2023-04-17 17:21:02
TOKYO – Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) countries agree on the need to resist any Chinese “coercion” or attempts to exert control in the Taiwan Strait, said a senior US State Department official amid heightened tensions over Taiwan.
Concern over what G-7 ministers see as China’s increasingly aggressive stance towards Taiwan and more generally the Indo-Pacific region was sharp during their three-day talks in the Japanese resort of Karuizawa.
“The message is the same throughout the G-7: that we want to work with China in those areas where China is willing to work with us,” a senior US State Department official told reporters in a telephone conversation.
“We will certainly stand up against any coercion, any market manipulation, any attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” the official added.
The G-7 ministers are eager to demonstrate a united front, especially after recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, which were seen as too weak on China in some Western capitals and sparked a backlash.
After a visit to China this month, Macron warned against getting sucked into a crisis over Taiwan driven by “an American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction”.
As the only Asian member of the G-7, Japan is deeply concerned about possible actions by Beijing against nearby Taiwan.
Beijing regards Taiwan as Chinese territory and has not refrained from using force to take the democratically governed island. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says only the people of the island can decide their future.
Separately on Monday, Japan said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier had been conducting air operations with fighter jets and helicopters between April 10 and April 16. According to Chinese state media, the navy conducted combat training around Taiwan last week.
China is increasingly trying to replace international rules with “its own rules,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting.
“Many of our partners in the region increasingly feel that China is increasingly willing to trade existing common binding international rules for its own,” said Ms Baerbock, who met her Chinese counterpart in Beijing last week.
The G-7 consists of the United States, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Canada. REUTERS
