Mon, Apr 17, 2023 page1

• China’s behavior will affect EU ties, Borrell tells G7

  ‘MEANS A LOT’: The EU foreign policy chief said the Taiwan Strait is of major concern, while a US official said G7 members are all worried about ‘actions that China is taking’

  • Reuters, KARUIZAWA, Japan
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  The relationship between China and Europe would be determined by Beijing’s behavior, including what happens with Taiwan, the EU’s foreign policy chief said yesterday.

  The comments from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, in a remote address at the start of the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Japan, highlighted two of the themes that have come into focus ahead of the three-day gathering: the need for a united approach to China and concerns about Taiwan.

  China is front and center as the foreign ministers of the world’s advanced democracies meet in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa.

  

  Back row, from left, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi receive flowers during a welcoming event at Karuizawa Station in Japan yesterday.

  Photo: Reuters

  The only Asian member of the grouping, Japan has increasing concerns about China’s growing might in the region, and is particularly focused on the possibility of military action against Taiwan.

  “Anything that happens in Taiwan Strait will mean a lot to us,” Borrell said, stressing the need to engage with China and keep communications open.

  He described China as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival,” and said that which of those three relations the EU would lean toward “will be determined by China’s behavior.”

  The ministers are likely to discuss their “common and concerted” approach to China, a senior US Department of State official said.

  “There is collective concern about a number of the actions that China is taking,” the US official told reporters on the plane to Japan from Vietnam, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information.

  Recent G7 statements have included calls for candid and constructive engagement with Beijing while recognizing that “individually all the G7 members have deep economic relationships” with the world’s second-largest economy, the official said.

  German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock sought to underscore the G7’s unity.

  “As democracies, we are successful in systemic competition with autocratic forces when our partners and friends around the world have confidence in us. We must avoid that our unity is misunderstood by others as separation or that new rifts are opened,” she said in a statement before her trip to Japan.

  Taiwan would also be a subject of discussion, the senior US official said, but declined to comment on any specific new language.

  Separately, a state department official said that G7 foreign ministers would also discuss how to ensure Ukraine has weapons and other defensive equipment it needs over the long term, North Korea and ways to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations, as well as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which consists of the US, India, Japan and Australia.

  There would also be extended discussions on how the G7 can spur more global infrastructure building in developing nations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, the official said, adding that some announcements are planned for next month during the leaders’ summit.

  Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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