Japan at G7 calls for China to act responsibly as major world power

Tokyo, Nov 4 (EFE).- China should play a responsible role as a major world power, Japan’s foreign minister said at G7 meetings in Germany, while the group demanded that growing tensions around Taiwan be resolved peacefully.

Yoshimasa Hayashi presented his position at meetings in Münster, during which the group’s foreign ministers addressed issues such as the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, which comes as China expands its presence in the region, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, according to Kyodo news.

During the meeting on Thursday, Hayashi said the G7 should push China to play a responsible role as a major power, and inform Beijing of the group’s “preparedness for cooperation in fields where they can work together,” it added.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait” and agreed on the need to seek a peaceful resolution to the current tensions in the area.

China views the self-ruled democratic island as a rebel province that must be reunited with the mainland, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.

Relations between the two territories heightened with the August visit to the island by United States House speaker Nancy Pelosi, which led to an increase in Chinese military presence in surrounding waters.

The international community is awaiting China’s position regarding the island as President Xi Jinping enters an unprecedented third term as leader of the country and its sole party.

The G7 foreign ministers also “strongly condemned” North Korea’s recent missile launches, Kyodo said.

The first of the two meetings focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was attended virtually by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Hayashi joined the condemnation of Russia for attacks on civilians.

During the final session on Friday, the G7 foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Iran and other issues before adopting a joint statement, according to Japanese government sources. EFE

mra/tw