G7 Foreign Ministers (left to right) European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell (L), German Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas (2L), Italy鈥檚 Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio (3L) Britain鈥檚 Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (4L), Japan鈥檚 Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (5L), French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (6L), Canada鈥檚 Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau (7L) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (8L) pose for a family photo at the start of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in London on May 4, 2021. 鈥� G7 foreign ministers meet in London for their first face-to-face talks in more than two years today, with calls for urgent joined-up action to tackle the most pressing global threats. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / POOL / AFP)
London,听United Kingdom 鈥� The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies on Tuesday discussed how to form a common front towards an increasingly assertive China in the foreign ministers鈥� first in-person talks in two years.
Backing US President Joe Biden鈥檚 calls for a deeper alliance of democracies, host Britain invited guests including India, South Korea, and Australia for talks in central London stretched out over three days.
After a welcome dinner Monday focused on the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, the foreign ministers opened formal talks at Lancaster House, a West End mansion, welcoming one another with Covid-friendly elbow-bumps and minimal staff.
The G7 devoted its first session Tuesday to China, whose growing military and economic clout, and willingness to exert its influence at home and abroad have increasingly unnerved Western democracies.
鈥淚t is not our purpose to try to contain China or to hold China down,鈥� US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday.
鈥淲hat we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue, not just of our own citizens, but of people around the world 鈥� including, by the way, China.鈥�
Blinken pledged 鈥渞obust cooperation鈥� with Britain in pressuring China over the Xinjiang region, where Beijing鈥檚 incarceration of one million Uyghurs and other Muslims has been labeled genocide by Washington, and over a clampdown against civil rights in Hong Kong.
Cooperation where possible
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for 鈥渉olding Beijing to the commitments that they鈥檝e made鈥�, including on Hong Kong, which was promised a separate system before London handed over the colony in 1997.
But in line with the Biden administration, which has shifted the tone if not substance of former president Donald Trump鈥檚 hawkish stance on China, Raab also called for 鈥渇inding constructive ways to work with China in a sensible and positive manner where that鈥檚 possible鈥� 鈥� including on climate change.
鈥淲e want to see China stepping up to the plate and playing its full role,鈥� Raab said.
The nations of the G7 鈥� which also include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan 鈥� mostly share concerns about China but some have different approaches.
Japan has historic tensions with China but has held off on joining Western nations with sanctions, wary of inflaming relations with its giant neighbor and trading partner.
Italy has been seen as one of the most Beijing-friendly nations in the West, in 2019 signing up for China鈥檚 massive infrastructure-building Belt and Road Initiative.
But Rome joined EU peers in March in summoning the Chinese ambassador in a row triggered by concerns over the treatment of the Uighurs.
Preparing for summit
Russia, Myanmar, Libya, Syria, and climate change, and other issues are on the formal agenda for the foreign ministers.
Blinken will head on Wednesday to Ukraine in a show of support after Russia last month amassed and then pulled back 100,000 troops in border regions and Crimea.
The G7 is laying the groundwork for a leaders鈥� summit in Cornwall, southwest England, next month, in what will be Biden鈥檚 first foreign trip as president.
They will also discuss Ethiopia, Somalia, the Sahel, and western Balkans in what London said were 鈥減ressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights鈥�.
鈥淭he UK鈥檚 presidency of the G7 is an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats,鈥� Raab said.
Ministers are meeting under strict coronavirus protocols, with stripped-back delegations and social distancing, including face masks and perspex screens between speakers.
Britain, which has seen more than 127,500 deaths in the outbreak, is gradually easing virus restrictions as vaccinations increase and cases fall, even as other countries such as India and Brazil endure fresh spikes.
The ministers on Wednesday will discuss vaccines amid growing calls for Western nations to share after their early successes in inoculating their populations.