Leaders of the G7 in an online meeting on Wednesday underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
G7 leaders, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, met online to address global challenges, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel, as well as issues such as economic resilience, food security and health.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community,” the body said in a statement.
Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service handout via Reuters
The leaders called for “a peaceful resolution” to cross-strait issues, adding that “there is no change in the basic positions of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated one China policies.”
Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, they voiced serious concerns about the situation in the East and South China seas, underlining that they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”
They also reiterated the commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is “inclusive, prosperous, secure and based on the rule of law, and that protects shared principles.”
While being open to building “constructive and stable relations with China,” G7 countries urged Beijing to play by international rules, adding that they are to work toward derisking and diversifying to build resilient economies.
The leaders also called on Beijing to honor its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to refrain from engaging in “interference activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions and our economic prosperity,” the statement said.
China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea have “no legal basis,” they said, adding that they are opposed to its “militarization activities” in the region.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement yesterday thanked the G7 countries for their continued concern about the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
Major countries have repeatedly stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, including at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May and the summit between the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the US at Camp David in Maryland in August, the ministry said, adding that the issue has become a consensus in international society.
In other news, Taiwan is to donate US$2 million to the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission over five years starting next year to assist in the development of small island nations, the ministry said.
Taiwan made the announcement at the commission’s annual meeting, which began in the Cook Islands on Monday and concludes today, Department of International Organizations Deputy Director-General Lee Kuan-te (李冠德) told a regular news briefing.
The donation is to follow a five-year project from 2017, in which Taiwan donated US$2 million to the commission to establish a trust fund to assist members of the Small Island Developing States, including Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific, to build fishery capabilities, Lee said.
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