G7 vs. China: United against Beijing's growing power?
William Yang in Hiroshima
May 18, 2023
Experts say they are skeptical about the G7's ability to come up with a coordinated response to China's expanding economic power and military might.
The G7 includes the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and CanadaImage: Takuya Yoshino/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP/picture alliance
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Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) — a club of some of the world's major industrialized nations — are gathering in the Japanese city of Hiroshima from Friday for their annual summit.
The G7 — which includes the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Canada — has been grappling with the question of how to deal with China amid Beijing's growing global economic influence and military might in recent years.
The US has called for G7 nations to take stronger positions on Beijing.
Washington has already blocked China's access to the most advanced semiconductors and the equipment to make them. It has also pressed Japan and the Netherlands to follow suit.
But European countries like Germany and France stress that the G7 is not an "anti-China alliance." They have also underlined that de-risking their economies does not mean cutting off ties with the world's second-biggest economy.
But it will be tough for them to agree on any specific measures to counter Beijing's growing power in the Indo-Pacific, said Robert Ward, Director of Geo-economics and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
"I suspect G7 countries won't want to go head-on towards China because they could only fight on so many fronts, and the Ukraine issue will be pretty major," he told DW.
Wenti Sung, a China expert at the Australian National University (ANU), said the G7 joint statement will likely include language highlighting their concern for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and reiterating the importance of a rules-based global order.
"I don't expect a robust security dimension to be featured in the G7 joint statement," he noted. "But I do expect a continuation of values-based language expressing support for Taiwan and the stability of the Taiwan Strait as a core element of the global commerce and maritime freedom of navigation."
China has always slammed statements by foreign governments on Taiwan as an interference in its domestic affairs.
Ward said Japan, however, is keen to present the island as an international issue that "everyone needs to be interested in."
"[Japan thinks] everyone needs to participate in the preservation of the stability [across the Taiwan Strait]," he added.
China and Taiwan: Best enemies?
Chinese President Xi recently called for a "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, prompting criticism from Taipei. What is the "Taiwan issue" all about? DW explores the history of the conflict through these photographs.
Image: AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Recapturing vs. liberation
After the end of WWII, the Communist Party of China (CPC) under Mao Zedong pursued a fierce battle against his archrival Chiang Kai-shek, chief of the Kuomintang (KMT) party. Chiang lost and took refuge in the island of Taiwan. For some time after that, Taiwan was the center of propaganda from both sides. The CPC wanted to "liberate" Taiwan, while Kuomintang wanted to "recapture the mainland."
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Letters to 'compatriots'
In the 1950s, the CPC published four "Messages to Chinese compatriots" in Taiwan, which are considered the basis of Beijing's Taiwan policy. In these texts, Beijing warned Taiwan of collaborating with US "imperialists." Military confrontation, particularly artillery attacks, also continued during this time.
Image: Imago/Zuma/Keystone
Beijing replaces Taipei in UN bodies
In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly declared that the People's Republic of China was the sole lawful representative of the country. With this decision, the Republic of China (ROC)/Taiwan was removed from all UN bodies. The frustration of ROC's foreign minister, Chow Shu-kai (right), and his ambassador Liu Chieh is easy to see in this picture.
Image: Imago/ZUMA/Keystone
New Taiwan policy
The fifth and last "message" from Beijing to Taiwan was published on January 1, 1979. The mainland, under the leadership of the reformist Deng Xiaoping ended military operations, announced the development of bilateral ties and promised peaceful reunification. However, Beijing's right to represent China internationally was not to be questioned.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/UPI
'One China' policy
The new orientation of China's Taiwan policy took place as Washington and Beijing got closer. On January 1, 1979, the US and China resumed diplomatic relations, with Washington under President Jimmy Carter recognizing Beijing as the sole legitimate government of the whole of China. The US embassy in Taiwan was remodeled into an institute for culture.
Image: AFP/AFP/Getty Images
'One China, two systems'
Even before meeting US President Carter, Deng Xiaoping had introduced the principle of "one country, two systems," which allowed Taiwan to maintain its social systems even after reunification. However, Taiwan's President Chiang Ching-Kuo did not immediately fall for it. On the contrary, in 1987 he formulated the principle of "one China for the better system."
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
The independence movement
In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan's first opposition party, was founded. At a meeting in 1991, the DPP declared a clause for Taiwan's independence, which stipulated that Taiwan was sovereign and not a part of China.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Yeh
'Consensus of 1992'
In unofficial Hong Kong talks in 1992, representatives of Taipei and Beijing reached a political agreement on the nature of their relationship. Both parties agreed that there was only one China. However, they had different views on what "One China" meant. A year later, the chief negotiators Wang (left) and Koo met in Singapore.
Image: Imago/Xinhua
Bilateral relations
In an interview with DW in 1995, the first democratically elected President of Taiwan and the KMT leader Lee Teng-hui said that all relations beyond the straits of Taiwan would be "defined as relations between states; at the very least, as a relationship of a special kind between states." His formulation was very close to being a declaration of independence.
Image: Academia Historica Taiwan
'A state on every side'
The DPP won the presidential election for the first time in 2000 with Chen Shui-bian, a Taiwanese-born politician who had no connections to mainland China, calling for "a state on each side." It meant that Taiwan should have nothing to do with China anymore. In 2005, Beijing reacted with the Anti-Secession Law, which allowed the use of military force in the event that Taiwan declared independence.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/Jerome Favre
'One China, different interpretations'
After losing the elections in 2000, the KMT adopted a changed formulation of the "Consensus of 1992" in the party's statute, which called for "one China, different interpretations." That is why the 1992 Consensus is still debated in Taiwan. The reason: the negotiators of 1992 did not have an official position.
Image: Imago/ZumaPress
CPC meets KMT
The mainland adopted the "Consensus of 1992" as a political basis for creating a relationship with Taiwan. In the first summit between the two sides since the communists came to power in China, Hu Jintao (right) and Lian Zhan endorsed the "Consensus of 1992" and the "One China" principle.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Reynolds
'The direction is correct'
After KMT's Ma Ying-Jeou won the 2008 presidential elections, both sides continued to come closer. In an interview with DW in 2009, Ma said: "The straits of Taiwan should be a place of peace and security. We have come a lot closer to this goal. Basically our direction is correct."
Image: GIO
Quo vadis?
After the elections in 2016, when President Tsai Ing-wen came to power, the independence movement gained a lot of wind. Tsai disputed the existence of the 1992 consensus and described the "attempt of China to interfere in the political and social development of Taiwan" as the "biggest challenge."
Image: ROC
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How to enlist nations outside the group
Japan has also invited leaders from several non-G7 economies, including Australia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Brazil and the African Union, to this year's gathering.
Some of these countries have so far resisted Western calls for sanctions on Russia, and don't want to be drawn into broader geopolitical conflicts. One of the G7 goals in Hiroshima, said Ward, is to convince them to join forces with the democratic world in opposition to Russia and China.
But Sana Hashmi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation in Taipei, said there's "no coordination" between the G7 and other democratic nations on China policy.
"They want to focus on threats from China, and the agenda between the sub-groups and the G7 are similar, yet there is no coordination," she pointed out.
Nevertheless, Ward said, the US push for allies to take on more responsibilities in preserving regional stability could prompt a collective response against China. "[The US] has recognized that it needs help from allies, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region."
G7 to talk on ways to stop nuclear proliferation
This year's G7 summit is taking place in Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities bombed with nuclear weapons by the US in the last days of World War II.
The choice of venue underscores Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's determination to put nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation at the top of the agenda.
A path to nuclear disarmament has appeared more difficult amid Moscow's recent nuclear weapon threats in Ukraine, China's growing nuclear stockpile and North Korea's attempts to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities.
Russia has also suspended its involvement in the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the US, a deal limiting their strategic stockpiles.
Tokyo has adopted a firm anti-nuclear stance. But Japan, which is protected by the US nuclear umbrella, has faced criticism that its nuclear disarmament pledge is an empty promise.
Ward, from IISS, said that Kishida will push for G7 to commit to creating conditions for further disarmament. But he doubts the efforts will generate any significant outcome at the summit.
