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
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS