All bark and no bite: G7 finance ministers fail to mention Chinese threat in latest communiqué

Top financial leaders of G7 nations gathered in Japan’s Niigata on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine war, sanctions on Russia, inflation and much more, but avoided discussing China and its “economic coercion”. Both EU and US have raised concerns in the past regarding China’s coercive actions against companies of those nations who speak against the communist country. 

Watch: India takes centre stage at G20 summit

However, officials attending the meeting in the Japanese port city steered clear of antagonising China, to keep their trade ties intact with the rising power and the world’s number 2 economy.

G7’s faltering promise to uphold “rule-based international order”

According to a joint communiqué released after the meeting, the financial leaders of G7 nations pledged to work together to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks, stand firm to protect our shared values, and preserve economic efficiency by upholding the free, fair and rules-based multilateral system.”

However, the leaders mentioned the need to uphold “rule-based international order” just once in the entire communiqué. 

Earlier, a Bloomberg report highlighted how US and EU were facing a dilemma over countering the rising threats from China even as their supply chains remain so interlinked with the communist country.

Even the EU has hardened its stance on China after the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had called China a rival and a competitor last week. But the world’s top seven economies remain divided on how to pursue any joint effort to mitigate risks induced by China’s rise.

Group of Seven’s leaders to meet next week in Japan

 As per a Reuters report, leaders of G7 nations are slated to meet in Japan’s Hiroshima from May 19 to 21, and the main G7 statement will carry direct references to China. The leaders will also focus on drafting policies to deny China’s military access to tools it could use to gain technological superiority, and many in the Biden administration see them as complementary to export controls restricting access to some semiconductors that have the same goal.

China accuses the US of economic coercion

China’s foreign ministry on Friday blasted US and EU for their “hypocritical assertions.”

“If any country should be criticized for economic coercion, it should be the United States. The U.S. has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls and taking discriminatory and unfair measures against foreign companies,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry said. 

(With inputs from agencies)