The heads of diplomacy United States and other G7 countries They showed Monday in Japan their unity towards China, rejecting any difference of opinion, while reiterating their support for Ukraine in the face of Russia and condemning the recent missile tests by North Korea.

Gathered in the ski resort of Karuizawa, 100 kilometers from Tokyo, the foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom devoted much of their discussions to the rise of China and reiterated their condemnation of the Russian invasion. of Ukraine, the Japanese government reported.

G7 ministers called on North Korea to refrain from further nuclear testing

“The international community is now at a historic juncture,” Japanese Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his peers, adding that the G7 “categorically rejected any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force,” in Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula or elsewhere, according to the statement.

North Korea and China

On North Korea, Hayashi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other G7 ministers called on North Korea to refrain from further nuclear testing and to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Also they called repatriate all North Korean workers earning income in the territory of UN member states no longer grant work permits to citizens of this Asian nation on its territory, again according to the Japanese press release, reported the AFP news agency.

A US destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait, where China conducted military exercises

The role of Japan, the only Asian member of the G-7, as chair of this year’s talks provides an opportunity to discuss coordinated action against China, including the increased military presence in the South China Sea and its policy aggressive towards Taiwan intimidated their neighbours. .

Several leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, recently concluded visits to China, and diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their views on China’s position. on many issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea and Taiwan.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night that was the diplomats’ first formal meeting, Hayashi called for continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges in which Beijing’s involvement is seen as crucial.

Among the Chinese interests that are closely linked to those of wealthy democracies there are global efforts on trade, finance and climate.

On Sunday, a US destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait, where Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory, had recently held major military exercises.

Macron prefers to avoid the crises of others

One of the G7 leaders who was in China was French President Emmanuel Macron, who on his return said that Europe should avoid “crises that are not [suyas]”, regarding the position of the United States in the conflict between China and Taiwan and defended European “strategic autonomy”.

US officials, including Blinken, refrained from commenting publicly on these statements, and Paris tried to defuse the controversy, reaffirming that France’s position had not changed.

France remains “deeply attached to respect for the status quo, as well as to the preservation of peace and stability between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait”, recalled French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

Germany has asked European countries not to “fold into their shells”

At the same time, Blinken and Colonna met on Monday on the sidelines of the G7, showing, according to the North American, their “convergence” of points of view.

“We are united, we send clearly the same signal to the rest of the world that any situation requires respect for international lawa prerequisite for the rest,” Colonna told reporters.

Por su parte, la ministra de Relaciones Exteriores alemana, Annalena Baerbock, pidió a los países europeos que no se “limiten a defender el orden de paz europeo” o que “se replieguen en su caparazón”, sino que actúen “con una visión amplia of the world”.

ministers too agreed to step up efforts to “prevent and respond to sanctions busting” against Russiaas well as the “third-party supply of arms to Russia”, which could be seen as a new warning to China.