The meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan, judged by the joint statement released today, spent its time in geopolitical concerns targeting China. This prompted an immediate response from China: “We urge the G7 to concentrate on their own problems and discard the Cold War mentality.”
The G7 had declared that “there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea” and called upon China to “abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force” in the region. It went on to condemn Beijing for “human rights violations” in Tibet and Xinjiang and for infringing upon “Hong Kong’s autonomy rights and freedom.”
Shortly afterwards, Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said that the G7 statement was “full of arrogance.” Further, the G7 meeting “grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, and maliciously smeared and discredited China. The communiqué is full of arrogance [and] prejudice.” Beijing also issued “a strong démarche” to Japan, which hosted the meeting of foreign ministers.
Wang explained that Taiwan is “part of China’s sacred territory,” and that “to truly keep the Taiwan Strait peaceful, it is essential to unequivocally oppose and stop” any provocations on breaking Taiwan from China. Finally, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet are “China’s internal affairs that no foreign forces should intervene in under any pretext or in any way,” he declared.
The G7 statement, of course, claimed insincerely that there has been no change from the “one China” policy, a claim which was shown to be even more absurd following the news that there are now 200 US “military advisors” stationed in Taiwan (see separate slug).
