G-7 members vow tough position on China, North Korea and Russia aggression

Members of the Group of Seven have promised to take a tough position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s aggression toward Taiwan and North Korea’s missile tests.

Top G-7 diplomats representing the world’s wealthiest economies — the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union — on Monday talked over some of their top priorities ahead of a G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May.

The U.S. is focused on shoring up support for Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s year-long war, as well as upping punishment against Moscow for its invasion. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the world must “firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons.”

Amid tense U.S.-China relations, the diplomats are reportedly also focusing on China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific around Taiwan, the democratically-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory, with plans to discuss a continued approach to Beijing. 

Upset by recent visits between Taiwan leadership and U.S. lawmakers, China’s military simulated precision strikes and sealing off the island in a three-day bout of intense drills after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the U.S. earlier this month.

The G-7 will also look closely at North Korea’s missile testing, which has included about 100 test-firings since last year alone. Pyongyang has controversially test-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland, plus other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

The Associated Press contributed.