Newsletters
The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers on Wednesday voiced concern over China’s expanding military capabilities and its rapidly growing nuclear arsenal, calling on Beijing to improve transparency and commit to regional stability.
Top diplomats from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union issued a joint statement following their two-day meeting in Canada.
“We reaffirmed the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law,” the statement said, while expressing “strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force or coercion, including in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.”
The ministers emphasized the need to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, opposing any unilateral efforts to alter the status quo and calling for a “peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through constructive dialogue.”
They also supported Taiwan’s “meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.”
The G7 ministers also condemned North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, reaffirming their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.
The statement cited “grave concern” over North Korea’s alleged cryptocurrency thefts and called for a swift resolution to the longstanding issue of abductions by Pyongyang.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi expressed “serious concern” about China’s export restrictions on rare earth elements, according to a separate statement from Japan’s foreign ministry.
Motegi stressed the importance of securing stable supplies of critical minerals through deeper cooperation among the G7 and other “like-minded countries.”
He also reiterated Japan’s commitment to a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law” and voiced Tokyo’s continued support for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war.
The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting took place Tuesday and Wednesday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, a historic town in Ontario near the US–Canada border.
1 min read
1 min read
