China’s foreign ministry says Japan’s actions were harmful to China’s sovereignty and security.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over “exaggeration around China-related issues” at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in early week, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The heads of the world’s richest countries who met in the Japanese city of Hiroshima expressed serious concerns over rising tensions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, as well as their concerns about the human rights situation in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang.
Sun said that Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit “in joint activities and statements… to defame and attack China, grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan,” referring to the 1972 China-Japan joint communique.
(Al Jazeera)
A joint statement issued by G7 nations on Saturday singled out China on issues ranging from Taiwan and maritime claims to economic coercion and human rights, underscoring tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries that includes the United States united
‘Workshop against China’
China’s state-backed Global Times newspaper on Monday called the G7 an “anti-China workshop”.
“The US is pushing hard to weave an anti-China web in the Western world,” the Global Times said in an editorial, titled “The G7 has fallen into an anti-China workshop,” on Monday.
“This is not only a matter of brutal interference in China’s internal affairs and defamation of China, but also an undisguised push for confrontation between the camps.”
Beijing’s foreign ministry said it strongly opposed the G7 statement and said it had summoned the Japanese ambassador as part of its protest to the summit host.
Russia, a close ally of China that was also called out at the G7 statement on its invasion of Ukraine, said the summit was an “incubator” for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria.
Separately, China’s embassy in Britain urged London on Sunday to stop slandering China, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing posed the world’s biggest challenge to security and prosperity.
Despite Beijing’s prompt reaction, US President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China “shortly”.
In addition to Japan, the UK and the US, the group also includes Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
China strongly condemns British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s malicious smears against China, urging some UK politicians to focus more on its long-standing domestic political, economic and social problems rather than following the US in stirring up trouble , the Chinese Embassy in the UK said… pic.twitter.com/NDoDZsIMTA
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 22, 2023
Japan’s reaction
Sun said Japan’s actions were harmful to China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.
“Japan should correct 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 attitude,” added.
Hideo Tarumi, Japan’s ambassador to China, refuted the accusation saying it is “natural” for the G7 to refer to issues of common interest as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future while China don’t change his behavior, according to a reading.
“China should first take positive steps to address these issues of concern if China demands not to refer to them,” Tarumi told Sun, according to the reading.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during Monday morning’s briefing that the country’s policy toward China has been consistent and that it will press on matters as necessary and urge responsible behavior while taking action to address concerns and cooperate on common issues.
