G7 Warns China’s Actions East of Taiwan Threaten Regional Stability and Shipping

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven said China’s increasingly assertive activities in the waters east of Taiwan threaten regional stability, freedom of navigation and the safety of international shipping, in a joint declaration published late Wednesday after a meeting in Paris.

The statement said the ministers “reaffirmed our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, particularly by force or coercion, or the threat thereof.”

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up activity off the island’s east coast since June with regular coast guard patrols, Reuters reported. Officials in Taiwan say they believe China is practicing for a possible maritime blockade using overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.

The G7 statement is the strongest unified expression of concern to date about the Chinese activities, according to Reuters. The United States, Britain, France and Germany had each raised concerns before, but not together in a single G7 declaration.

Beijing rejects the statement; Taipei welcomes it

China’s foreign ministry said Thursday the statement “disregards objective facts … crudely interferes in China’s internal affairs, and maliciously slanders and smears China.” Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the statement “once again proves that the G7 is an ideological clique clinging to Cold War mentality and engaging in bloc politics.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that Taiwan should be reunified with the motherland, and pledged to do so peacefully, Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s presidential office welcomed the statement, saying peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific matter to global security and prosperity. Spokesperson Karen Kuo said Taiwan will keep strengthening its self-defense and working with like-minded partners, including G7 member states.

Taiwan’s defense minister, Wellington Koo, said Tuesday that China is carrying out “area denial” drills in the Western Pacific involving an aircraft carrier and other naval formations. Taipei regards the waters east of Taiwan as important to wartime supply routes from allies in the event of a blockade or conflict.

What the declaration covered beyond Taiwan

The ministers met in Paris on Nov. 9 and 10 under the French G7 presidency. The declaration also covered Ukraine, the Middle East and the South China Sea, and said the G7 would keep coordinating sanctions pressure on Russia’s war economy.

The group also said it supported Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and the joint G7 declaration published by the UK government.