Russia and China at the G7 Summit

The G7 Summit is the focus of the international community in the coming days.

This year's G7 summit takes place from May 19-21 in Hiroshima, Japan. (Source: Reuters)

On May 19-21, all the attention of the international media will be focused on Hiroshima, Japan, where the G7 Summit will take place. The host country will welcome the leaders of the remaining six member countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the US) and a number of other countries invited to attend the expanded G7 Summit.

Security is of particular concern to the host country, especially after the host country's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio was attacked with a smoke bomb in Wakayama City on April 15. However, what the community is most interested in is the content of the discussion of the G7 leaders this time, especially the Russia-Ukraine conflict and China.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

A highlight will certainly be the conflict in Ukraine, with G7 members having imposed bilateral sanctions as well as participating in various forms of multilateral sanctions. Therefore, it is not surprising that the G7 Joint Statement will once again criticize Russia. Japan's Finance Minister said that the parties will step up efforts to share information to prevent Russia from "evading" sanctions, or even imposing more comprehensive sanctions.

The question, however, is how far the G7 is willing to go. EU leaders have failed to agree on a complete break with Russian gas as part of the 11th round of sanctions. Whether the four European G7 countries will be among the dissenters remains unclear. Even if the disagreement is unlikely to recur at the G7, it shows that finding a unified approach to Russia is not easy.

Another issue will be how these countries will aid Ukraine. Regarding weapons, there have been some “differences” in the views of the G7 countries. While the US, UK, France, Canada and Italy are ready to send a lot of modern equipment and weapons, due to constitutional barriers, Tokyo’s aid to Kiev has only stopped at necessities, humanitarian goods and reconstruction commitments.

Meanwhile, Germany has been “raising and lowering” many times before deciding to send Leopard I and II tanks to Ukraine. Not to mention the fact that European countries are “running out of steam” as their weapons reserves are gradually depleted and they have to speed up production. However, all weapons sent to the Eastern European country come with a commitment – ​​not to be used to attack Russian territory.

Regarding economic aid to Ukraine, at a meeting last week, G7 Finance Ministers pledged to provide at least $44 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2023. This is a significant amount for European countries trying to control inflation and maintain recovery momentum after the Covid-19 pandemic. Not to mention the controversy over the impact of Ukrainian grain on the European agricultural sector.

These aspects of the conflict are likely to feature in the discussions of G7 leaders in Hiroshima.

China Story

In an article on May 17, Reuters noted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is not the only “elephant in the room.” Instead, the China issue is the factor that could cause the G7 to disagree the most.

On the one hand, the group is concerned about China’s growing role in global supply chains and economic security. On the other hand, the G7 does not want and cannot completely “isolate” the Asian powerhouse and the leading trading partner of all its members, whether it is Japan, Germany, Canada or the United States.

Professor Michishita Narushige at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo said that the issue of “great power competition” will be an important topic at this G7 summit. He commented: “They need to address economic security and sensitive technologies. Everything is part of the great power competition that is taking place between the US and Russia, as well as between the US and China.”

According to Reuters, G7 leaders are expected to discuss China's so-called "economic coercion", even dedicating a specific section to how to deal with the Asian power, in addition to the content on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, economic resilience, economic security, food security...

Beijing seems to be well aware of this. Commentator Xin Ping wrote in Xinhua on May 17 that the G7 “little family” is gradually losing its status and glory, and criticized the group for continuing to interfere in Beijing’s internal affairs. Meanwhile, an editorial by Yang Bojiang, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published in China Daily on May 17 stated that most of the issues discussed at the G7 will be directly or indirectly related to China.

In that context, the upcoming G7 Summit is an opportunity for leaders of member countries to sit down and discuss hot issues, find solutions to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and find a suitable approach to China.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/chuyen-nga-trung-quoc-tai-thuong-dinh-g7-227557.html