HIROSHIMA, Japan—Economic security was a major focus on the second day of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Hiroshima, with leaders outlining actions to counter Beijing’s “economic coercion” and non-market practices.
The G-7 countries—the United States, the UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy—announced on May 20 their plan to address the “disturbing rise in incidents of economic coercion.”
“We will work together to ensure that attempts to weaponize economic dependencies by forcing G7 members and our partners, including small economies to comply and conform will fail and face consequences,” the G-7 leaders’ statement on economic security read.
“We express serious concern over economic coercion and call on all countries to refrain from its use.”
National security advisor Jake Sullivan, who briefed reporters on May 20 on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit, said the leaders agreed to deploy “a common set of tools” to confront China’s economic coercion.
“These economic security tools will include steps to build resilience in our supply chains. They will also include steps to protect sensitive technology, like export controls and outbound investment measures,” Sullivan said.
However, the leaders are emphasizing that their goal is to de-risk, not decouple from China.
“Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development,” according to the G-7 Summit communique released on May 20.
“A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest. We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying.”
Leveraging Economic Power
In recent years, China has increased its efforts to leverage its economic might to force political change around the world.
For example, after Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in April 2020, the communist regime announced trade sanctions on select Australian products.
An employee works as Australian-made wine (on display shelves on the right) at a store in Beijing on Aug. 18, 2020, the same day that the Chinese regime ramped up tensions with Australia after it launched a probe into wine imports from the country, the latest salvo in a bitter row after the Australian government called for a probe into the origins of COVID-19. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chinese regime’s economic coercion of Australia has served as a “wake-up call” to other countries, Liz Truss, the UK’s Foreign Secretary at the time, warned.
There have been other instances of Chinese coercion in the past, including with Japan, which saw Chinese shipments of rare earth metals blocked due to a territorial dispute in 2010. South Korea faced business boycotts from China in 2017 after installing a U.S. missile defense system. And recently, Beijing retaliated against Lithuania after it attempted to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
China has recently pressured U.S. companies as well. For example, in reaction to the United States placing export bans on advanced semiconductors, Beijing launched a probe into memory chip company Micron. Furthermore, in March, Chinese police stormed the Beijing office of Mintz Group, an American due diligence firm, and detained five Chinese citizens working for the company. Later, Chinese police questioned employees at the Shanghai branch of Bain & Co., an American consulting firm.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned about China’s growing economic coercion.
“We should be clear-eyed about the growing challenge we face. China is engaged in a concerted and strategic economic contest,” Sunak said in his remarks before the meeting on May 20.
To address these issues, the G-7 leaders have announced the formation of a new “G7 Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion.”
The new platform “will address the growing and pernicious use of coercive economic measures to interfere in the sovereign affairs of other states,” Sunak said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arriving for the family photo at the Itsukushima Shrine during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 19, 2023. (Stefan Rousseau – Pool/Getty Images)‘Direct and Candid’
Sullivan dismissed the notion that the G-7 statement would deteriorate U.S.-China relations.
“I think you will find the China language to be totally straightforward. It is not hostile or gratuitous. It is just direct and candid,” he said. “It is a multi-dimensional, complex policy for a complex relationship with a really important country.”
Also, in response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, G-7 leaders plan to boost infrastructure investments in underdeveloped countries.
At last year’s summit, the group pledged to mobilize $600 billion in public and private funding for infrastructure by 2027.
During a meeting on infrastructure and investment at G-7 summit, President Joe Biden said that the United States has already mobilized over $30 billion in investments to date.
“Together, we have a lot of work to do to close the infrastructure gap and in low- and middle-income countries,” Biden said.
The leaders are also promising not to rely on China for critical minerals and to take steps to build diverse and resilient supply chains for clean energy.
According to a source close to the summit discussions, the G-7 leaders are more united on China this year than they were two years ago. There has been more progress and agreement on what concrete actions the G-7 could take, the source told The Epoch Times.
However, there are still some disagreements over how to implement these actions, which demands governments be more creative to overcome differences, the person added.
The summit communique also included a statement from the G-7 leaders about Taiwan.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community,” the leaders stated. “There is no change in the basic positions of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated one China policies. We call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
An important focus of this year’s summit was “Outreach to the Global South,” according to the summit agenda, which intends to increase outreach to Latin America, Africa, the rest of Asia, and the Pacific to counter China’s growing influence in these regions.
To that end, a record number of leaders have been invited to this year’s summit, including representatives of Australia, the Republic of Korea, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Comoros (representing the African Union), and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Island Forum).