Beijing shoots from the lip in China’s G7 row
State media slams ‘coercive’ policy claim aimed at the world’s second-largest economy
Pressure is mounting on China’s predatory policies as global democracies push back at Beijing’s bullying.
The Group of Seven major industrialized nations warned on Sunday about the dangers posed by the world’s second-largest economy and its “coercive” economic strategy.
At a G7 summit in the English city of Liverpool, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss outlined the risks ahead to senior diplomats.
“We have been clear this weekend that we are concerned about the coercive economic policies of China,” she told a media conference.
Magnificent seven:
- The summit brought together foreign ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Representatives from the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also attended.
- With combine economies of US$40 trillion, the G7 packs a hefty economic punch.
- Up for discussion were China’s predatory practices and threats to democratic Taiwan.
- Other areas of concern included Beijing’s disinformation campaign.
- Support for countries caught in China’s Belt and Road debt traps was another key talking point.
Trading places: “What we want to do is build the investment reach, the economic trade reach, of like-minded, freedom-loving democracies,” Truss said, echoing views expressed by the European Union and the US earlier this month.
Alternative view: China has condemned the G7 statement and accused the UK and the US of weaponizing “democracy.” At the same time, London has been branded a “megaphone” to promote Washington’s foreign policy.
Gone with the wind: “It is obvious Truss is helping to consolidate the result of the ‘Summit for Democracy’ [last week], preventing it from vanishing like the wind,” China’s state-run Global Times said in an editorial on Monday.
Fundamental fever: “Facing a world with diverse interests, the US is trying to use democracy as a new political mobilization slogan to organize strategic containment against China. They are instigating the fever of fundamentalism over the Western definition of democracy,” it stated.
China Factor comment: General Secretary Xi Jinping and his Communist Party cabal are used to silencing dissent at home. Now, they are arrogant enough to believe they can do it abroad.