BEIJING, May 22 (Reuters) – State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times on Monday called the G7 an “anti-China workshop” after Beijing summoned Japan’s ambassador and slammed Britain over statements made at the weekend’s G7 summit in Hiroshima. .
A joint statement released on Saturday singled out China on issues ranging from Taiwan and maritime claims to economic coercion and human rights, underscoring tensions between Beijing and a group of wealthy nations that includes the United States.
“The US is working hard to weave an anti-China web in the West,” the Global Times said in an editorial on Monday saying ‘G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop’.
“This is not only brutal interference in China’s internal affairs and defamation of China, but also an undisguised incitement to conflict between the camps”.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said late Sunday that it firmly opposed the G7 statement and had summoned Japan’s ambassador to China as part of its protest to the summit.
China’s closest ally Russia, which was called out in a G7 report over its aggression on Ukraine, said the summit was an “incubator” of anti-Russian and anti-Chinese sentiment.
Separately, the Chinese embassy in Britain urged London on Sunday to stop defaming China, which British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said represented the world’s biggest challenge to Beijing’s security and prosperity.
Despite Beijing’s sharp reaction, US President Joe Biden said he expected frosty relations with China to thaw “very soon”. The Group of Seven (G7) includes Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
Japan is backward
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over “exaggeration of China-related affairs,” a ministry statement said late Sunday.
At the G7 summit, Japan joined other countries in “activities and joint declarations … that aggressive interference in China’s internal affairs violates the fundamental principles of international law and the spirit of the Four Political Documents. China and Japan,” referring to the 1972 China-Japan Joint Declaration.
He said Japan’s actions harmed China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and China was deeply dissatisfied and firmly opposed to them.
“Japan should adjust its understanding of China, understand strategic autonomy, adhere to the principles of the Four Political Documents between China and Japan, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive approach,” Sun said.
Hideo Tarumi, Japan’s ambassador to China, denied that it was “natural” for the G7 to address issues of common concern as it had done in the past and would continue to do so in the future unless China changed its behavior. , according to a reading.
“If China requests not to mention them, China should first take positive steps to address issues of those concerns,” Tarumi told the Sun, according to a reading.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during a briefing on Monday morning that the country’s policy on China is consistent, that it will be assertive in matters of need and insist on responsible behavior, while taking steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues.
Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue
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