WASHINGTON/PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) – The two countries that cast the longest shadows on this week’s Group of Seven (G7) summit are China and Russia, who were not even invited to the rally in Hiroshima.
As the heads of the world’s advanced democracies meet for three days starting Friday in the western Japanese city of Japan, countries will share their differences as they aim to unite against challenges from Beijing and Moscow. will need to be overcome, officials said.
Officials told Reuters that divisions within the G7 appear to be most pronounced over China, where countries are trying to cut global supply without completely alienating a powerful and important trading partner. It struggles with how to warn of what it sees as a Chinese threat to the chain and economic security.
The G7 countries (United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Italy) are all closely linked economically to China, the world’s second largest economy and an important global manufacturing base and market. there is
Shigeshige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, said how the G7 would deal with “great power competition” was a key issue for the summit.
“Economic security and how to deal with classified technology must be addressed,” Michishita said. “It’s all part of the great power race going on between the US and Russia and the US and China.”
French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Beijing last month, calling on the European Union to reduce its dependence on the United States, highlighted the two countries’ differences on China.
US government official told Reuters this week A summit would show leaders united behind a common approach to China, but he admitted it was “one of the more complicated issues” of the meeting. .
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The two leaders will also discuss concerns over China’s use of “economic coercion” in its overseas transactions as part of a larger joint statement, the main statement of which includes: will be “Chinese Specific Section” Reuters reported.
German officials said there were many other declarations on Ukraine, economic resilience and security, food security and more.
“I call this the geopolitical G7. It will deal with a major security crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” said a French presidential official.
“Given geopolitical issues as tensions rise between China and the United States, we need to clarify the rules of the game so that we can maintain our ability to cooperate internationally,” the official said.
Leaders from many other countries, including India and Vietnam, are also among those scheduled to attend as observers. The G7 is seeking closer ties with members of the “Global South” to counter China’s role on the world stage.
But how direct those words will be to China remains to be seen. Some G7 members are skeptical about signing on to management. investment in china.
At the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in April, Admitted He stressed the “need to cooperate with China on global issues,” and once again called on the Chinese government to act “as a responsible member of the international community,” rather than relying on group tendencies and tendencies. finance The Amirs made direct reference to China in the communiqué.
The United States has been at the forefront of tightening investment regulations, but Germany, which relies heavily on trade with China, is more cautious.
German government officials said Germany wanted to review investments in targeted sectors, but not across the board.
Japan is also skeptical of investment regulations.
From Russia to Taiwan
The leaders also plan to take steps aimed at energy and exports to support Russia’s war effort and to tighten sanctions against Russia, said an official with direct knowledge of the meeting. told Reuters.
The new move targets sanctions evasion involving third countries to undermine Russia’s future energy production and curb trade that supports the Russian military, the people said.
As for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are differences in strategy on how to end the conflict.
The U.S. does not want to talk about future diplomatic trajectories until it sees what the spring military offensive will look like, officials say, despite European allies wanting the U.S. to come up with a diplomatic solution. rice field.
“From a European point of view, it is for Ukraine’s partners to do everything in their power to accelerate their victory,” a European official said, adding that Europe’s response to challenges from the United States and China was also important.
“We also have to learn to protect our own interests,” the official said.
The Japanese government is concerned that Russia’s actions against Ukraine may encourage China’s actions against Taiwan, so the host country Japan sent a clear message on the importance of a rules-based international order. officials say they want to send
Reporting by Trevor Honeycutt in Washington and John Eilish in Paris. Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin. Kentaro Sugiyama, Kaori Kaneko, Yoshifumi Takemoto, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Katya Golubkova, Sakura Murakami in TOKYO, written by Katya Golubkova.Editing: David Dolan and Kim Coghill
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