The war in Ukraine and Chinese aggression towards Taiwan will dominate G7 discussions this week, but host Fumio Kishida is expected to carve out time to push for a pledge on nuclear weapons when leaders meet in Hiroshima, the first place on Earth targeted by an atomic bomb. The leaders began to arrive on Thursday, ahead of an expected visit on Saturday to the city’s Peace Memorial Museum, which contains exhibits showing the scale of the tragedy that unfolded after the US dropped a nuclear bomb on the morning of…
Tag: G7
Rishi Sunak seeks to build stronger defence with Japan at Tokyo G7
Rishi Sunak will seek to build a stronger defence with Japan amid fears of China’s rising militarisation as he travels to Tokyo and Hiroshima for the G7 summit. The prime minister will be accompanied by his wife, Akshata Murty, on their first official visit since he entered No 10 for the meeting of leaders from the US, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy and the EU. Sunak is expected to unveil the Hiroshima accord, an agreement with Japan aimed at stepping up defence cooperation and improving supply chains, when he meets…
UK should not ‘pull the shutters down’ on China, says James Cleverly
Britain should not “pull the shutters down” on China, as it would be counterproductive to the national interest, the foreign secretary has told the Guardian. In a warning to Conservative hawks, James Cleverly insisted there was not a binary choice to be made between treating China as either a threat or an opportunity, and said the UK’s approach needed to be more nuanced. It comes as the government attempts to navigate Beijing’s growing economic and political reach, with influential Tory MPs pressing the prime minister and his cabinet to take…
The Observer view on North Korea: only China can put a stop to Kim Jong-un’s latest round of nuclear sabre-rattling | Observer editorial
North Korea’s scary test launch of a newly developed, solid-fuel, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile caused a brief panic on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido last week. It also added a note of urgency to today’s meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan’s hot-spring resort of Karuizawa, where the Pyongyang regime’s escalating threats will be high on the agenda. Even so, the key to the North Korea conundrum may lie hundreds of miles away, in Beijing. Two questions will dominate G7 deliberations. Why is Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, deliberately…
Truss to call for tough sanctions against China if it escalates Taiwan tensions
Britain and the rest of the G7 should urgently agree a tough package of sanctions to impose on China if it escalates military tensions with Taiwan, Liz Truss will argue, as she uses her first public overseas speech to pile pressure on Rishi Sunak. Speaking in Tokyo on Friday, the former prime minister will urge her successor to be more hawkish in standing up to Beijing, warning coordinated action is needed to block “the rise of a totalitarian China” given “the free world is in danger”. Truss is expected to…
The Guardian view on Olaf Scholz’s visit to Beijing: treading a fine line | Editorial
The brevity of Olaf Scholz’s one-day visit to China, where he will meet President Xi Jinping on Friday, means that there will be little scope for the kind of colourful photo-ops that his predecessor, Angela Merkel, enjoyed during 12 visits to Germany’s most important trading partner. For Mr Scholz, who becomes the first G7 leader to visit Beijing since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, that is just as well. The optics of the German chancellor’s trip have already proved controversial enough. Mr Scholz is travelling with the traditional bevy…
We need to talk about Xi Jinping: G7’s discord over powerful trading partner
Western powers in the G7 group of nations are failing to coordinate their China strategies, senior western officials admit, adding that the need to do so has been given sharp impetus by Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power at this month’s Communist party congress. The G7’s poor coordination reflects a deep disagreement, also reflected within the EU, about whether dialogue and trade with China have a future if Beijing is seen as an existential threat that requires strict strategic controls on economic ties. Chinese aggression At the week-long Communist party congress,…
The Guardian view on Biden’s risky gamble: betting on lowering oil prices | Editorial
Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia this month highlights the paradox of American power. The US has the economic heft to punish an opponent – but not enough to alter the behaviour of a determined adversary. Sanctions will see Russia’s economy contract by 9% next year. But Washington needs more nations to join its camp to halt Moscow’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Mr Biden has been forced to prioritise war objectives over ethics in meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA says ordered the barbaric murder of the…
Truss bills UK G7 meeting as show of western unity against China and Russia
A new show of western unity against Russia and China is being lined up by the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, as she hosts a weekend meeting of G7 foreign ministers starting on Saturday. The G7 meeting, held against the backdrop of a potential invasion of Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea and the potential collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, is being billed by Truss as a “chance to show a united front against malign behaviour – including Russian posturing towards Ukraine”. Truss will also pledge security and…