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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – China’s state-run newspaper Global Times called the Group of Seven (G7) meeting an anti-China workshop. The moniker comes a day after Beijing summoned Japan’s envoy and berated Britain for his remarks at the meeting.

The G7 statement released on Saturday (5/20/2023) went on to focus on China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear weapons, economic coercion and human rights abuses. They also highlighted the tension between Beijing and a group of wealthy nations, including the United States (US).

“The United States is working hard to weave an anti-China web in the Western world,” the Global Times said in an op-ed titled “The G7 has degenerated into an anti-China workshop” published on Monday (22/5/2023) , as quoted by Reuters.

“It 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,” he added.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said it resolutely opposed the G7 statement and said Sunday night it had summoned Japan’s ambassador to China for a strong protest in front of the summit host.

Russia, a close ally of China also named in the G7 statement on its war in Ukraine, said the summit was an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese “incubator”.

Separately, the Chinese Embassy in Britain urged London to stop slandering China. The push came after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing posed the world’s biggest challenge to security and prosperity.

The statement from the G7’s top leaders mentioned China 20 times, the most in recent years, and up from 14 mentions in 2022.

Within the G7, Tokyo has also expressed some of the strongest concerns over China’s heavy-handed rhetoric around Taiwan, which sits right next to its southern island chain. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Monday that the country’s policy toward China is consistent. It will demand the necessary things and inspire responsible behavior, while taking steps to solve problems and cooperate on common issues.

Meanwhile, despite Beijing’s backlash, US President Joe Biden has said he expects a quick thaw in still-frozen relations with China.

The G7 itself is a group made up of countries with developed economies, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United Kingdom and United States. The seven countries recently held the 49th G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan from May 19-21.

(dce)