China and Ukraine headline as G7 foreign ministers arrive in Japan

Name: Taipei says it is monitoring Beijing’s planned ‘no-fly zone’ and continued military drills
Uploaded: 2023-04-15T22:44:42.000Z
Duration: 3 min 36 s
Description: Taipei says it is monitoring Beijing’s planned ‘no-fly zone’ and continued military drills

Talks, which run from Sunday to Tuesday, are set to be dominated by twin crises: China’s growing pressure on Taiwan and Russia’s war in Ukraine

The meeting comes days after China concluded major military drills around self-ruled Taiwan, and with Beijing barring ships from an area north of the island on Sunday

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A police officer stands guard next to a G7 banner at Karuizawa station in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 6:44am, 16 Apr 2023

The Group of Seven (G7’s) top diplomats arrive on Sunday in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa for talks set to be dominated by twin crises: China’s growing pressure on Taiwan, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

There will be no shortage of diplomatic and security challenges to discuss at the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting which runs from Sunday to Tuesday, but recent regional events are likely to sharpen the focus on Asia.

The meeting comes days after China concluded major military drills around self-ruled Taiwan, and with Beijing barring ships from an area north of the island on Sunday.

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Taipei says it is monitoring Beijing’s planned ‘no-fly zone’ and continued military drills

On Thursday, North Korea launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, just the latest in a stepped-up barrage of tests that have rattled nerves.

As this year’s host, Tokyo is keen to ensure regional challenges are top of the agenda, and will make clear it believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine only heightens the need for vigilance in Asia.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose government has revamped defence policy and spending in the face of growing Chinese power, has repeatedly warned “Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow”.

“Japan’s basic position ... on Ukraine is that the security of Europe and that of the Indo-Pacific cannot be discussed separately,” a Japanese government official said ahead of the talks.