The relationship between China and Europe would be determined by Beijing’s behavior, including what happens with Taiwan, the EU’s foreign policy chief said yesterday.
The comments from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, in a remote address at the start of the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Japan, highlighted two of the themes that have come into focus ahead of the three-day gathering: the need for a united approach to China and concerns about Taiwan.
China is front and center as the foreign ministers of the world’s advanced democracies meet in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa.
Photo: Reuters
The only Asian member of the grouping, Japan has increasing concerns about China’s growing might in the region, and is particularly focused on the possibility of military action against Taiwan.
“Anything that happens in Taiwan Strait will mean a lot to us,” Borrell said, stressing the need to engage with China and keep communications open.
He described China as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival,” and said that which of those three relations the EU would lean toward “will be determined by China’s behavior.”
The ministers are likely to discuss their “common and concerted” approach to China, a senior US Department of State official said.
“There is collective concern about a number of the actions that China is taking,” the US official told reporters on the plane to Japan from Vietnam, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information.
Recent G7 statements have included calls for candid and constructive engagement with Beijing while recognizing that “individually all the G7 members have deep economic relationships” with the world’s second-largest economy, the official said.
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock sought to underscore the G7’s unity.
“As democracies, we are successful in systemic competition with autocratic forces when our partners and friends around the world have confidence in us. We must avoid that our unity is misunderstood by others as separation or that new rifts are opened,” she said in a statement before her trip to Japan.
Taiwan would also be a subject of discussion, the senior US official said, but declined to comment on any specific new language.
Separately, a state department official said that G7 foreign ministers would also discuss how to ensure Ukraine has weapons and other defensive equipment it needs over the long term, North Korea and ways to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations, as well as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which consists of the US, India, Japan and Australia.
There would also be extended discussions on how the G7 can spur more global infrastructure building in developing nations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, the official said, adding that some announcements are planned for next month during the leaders’ summit.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS