G7 leaders denounce China over Russia relations, human rights and Taiwan friction in statement following summit
- The Group of Seven communique calls on Beijing to urge Russia to halt the war and to refrain from military action against Taiwan
- Referring to China 14 times, the G7 statement shows a new resolve to focus on Beijing’s actions in global economic, technological and military sectors
Leaders from the world’s wealthiest democracies denounced China on Tuesday in a statement following a Group of Seven summit that contained a dramatic uptick in references to Beijing.
Reflecting a steeling of the geopolitical environment in the year since the last G7 summit, the statement criticised China for its relations with Russia, its human rights record and long-standing economic grievances.
While few of the complaints are new, the US has previously been unable to convince other delegations to use such forthright language when referring to China.
Any reservations appear to have melted away: China was featured 14 times in a post-summit communique following the annual gathering, which was held in Krun, Germany. China was referred to four times in the G7 statement a year ago.
The G7 is made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union, all of which have imposed crippling sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadowed other foreign policy issues at the summit – the G7 leaders said they would explore steps to cap Russia’s income from oil sales and that they continued to support Kyiv for “as long as it takes”.