After arriving on the Shinkansen bullet train, delegations from G7 member countries met in Karuizawa for a closed-door dinner to focus on relations with China. A week ago, Beijing held a three-day military maneuver called “United Sword” around Taiwan, practicing attacks on “key targets” and a blockade of the island, among other things.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing a leaked government document, that the US has serious doubts about Taiwan’s defense capability. According to this, Beijing would probably quickly gain air supremacy over the island in the event of an invasion.
The G7 countries have repeatedly warned China against forcibly changing the island’s status. The talks will be about ensuring a “coordinated and common approach” to Beijing, a senior US State Department official said on Sunday.
The unity of the G7 countries towards China emerged after an interview with French President Emmanuel Macron. In it he had said, with a view to the USA, that Europe should not be a “follower” on the Taiwan question. Moreover, Europe must be careful not to become a “vassal”.
On the other hand, there is broad agreement on the positioning of the G7 chief diplomats on the Ukraine war. The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said before the meeting that the group of states would sharpen their “commitment”. It is now a question of showing Russian President Vladimir Putin the “determination” of the G7 and proving “that he will not achieve his goals through wear and tear.”
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine, fierce fighting continued over the weekend around the town of Bakhmut, which has been the focus of a battle for months. On Saturday, the Russian army claimed responsibility for the taking of northern and southern suburbs by the Wagner mercenary group. At least 11 people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in Sloviansk, 45 kilometers from Bakhmut.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly warned that “Asia could be tomorrow’s Ukraine” with regard to Ukraine and China’s growing military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. The two conflicts “cannot be discussed separately from each other,” said a Japanese government representative before the start of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Karuizawa.
Japan has participated in Western sanctions against Moscow since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. In addition, Tokyo has supported Kiev’s troops with defense equipment and taken in Ukrainian refugees.
In addition to the Taiwan conflict and the Ukraine war, the foreign ministers’ meeting will also deal with the crises in Afghanistan and Myanmar – as well as the danger posed by nuclear weapons. In May, Japan, which currently holds the G7 presidency, will hold a summit of leaders in Hiroshima, which was leveled in 1945 by the US dropping an atomic bomb. According to the will of Japan’s head of government, efforts for nuclear disarmament should be a central topic there.
The meeting in Karuizawa was accompanied by massive security measures. A smoke bomb detonated at a campaign event in Kishida in the western Japanese city of Wakayama on Saturday, leaving no one injured. The incident brought back memories of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally less than a year ago.
The G7 countries include Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the USA and the UK.
