On February 7th, 2025, the Chinese flag flapping wings on a boat near a shipping container at Yangshan Port overseas, China.
I’m going to Nakamura | Reuters
China has condemned accusations that G-7 members are “full of arrogance, prejudice and malicious intentions,” in a joint statement that they endangered maritime security created by diplomats from seven industrialized democratic groups.
Even in China’s commonly overheated diplomatic language, the statement issued on Saturday did not threaten retaliation, but was extraordinarily violent.
In a statement on Friday that sparked China’s response, the G-7 said: “We condemn China’s illegal, provocative, forced and dangerous behavior, which calls for changes to the status quo in ways that risk eroding the stability of the region, including repeating the land, building foreigners, and using it for military purposes.”
“We reaffirm that our basic policies regarding Taiwan remain the same and emphasize the importance of peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait, which is essential for international security and prosperity,” the statement said.
The response, issued through the Canadian embassy, where a two-day G-7 conference was held in Lamarve, Quebec, China, said it had “repeated the same old rhetoric, ignored the facts, ignored China’s strict stance, severely intervened in China’s internal affairs, blatantly enveloped China.”
“The statement is full of arrogance, prejudice and malicious intentions to restrain and attack China. China has vehemently lamented and opposed this and submitted strict expressions to the Canadian side,” the statement said.
China effectively claims the entire South China Sea, through which it has passed around $5 trillion in global trade. It clashed with parts of the ocean, particularly with other countries claiming to be US treaty partners, and occasionally clashed with.
China is not a member of the G-7, but it closely follows all comments and mentions made in international organizations or abroad, responding to criticism of caustic language.
China firmly rejects the unrelated court’s ruling that it invalidated most of its claims against the South China Sea, saying that its claims against Taiwan are unnegotiable, even if it has to use force against the island.
China routinely sent ships and fighter jets to airspace and waters near Taiwan, built military bases on man-made islands in the South China Sea, and recently conducted surprising practical exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, giving no advance notice.
Australian aviation authorities said they learned about the training just 30 minutes before they started, not from Beijing, but from pilots flying through the area.
The G-7 did not mention the drill in its statement.
“We have raised concerns with recent unfair efforts to limit such freedoms and use other forms of coercion across the Taiwan Strait, and by using coercion that includes the South China Sea, Red Sea and Black Sea,” the G-7 said.
China has the world’s largest navy, including three aircraft airlines, and is fourth on the way. It has a base at Sheikh Dam in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa and is consistently expanding its range of power.
