by Humeyra Pamuk and Sarah Marsh
MÜNSTER, Germany (Reuters) – G7 foreign ministers on Friday called on China to “refrain from any threat, coercion, intimidation or use of force”, as the United States touted an alignment countries in their policy towards Beijing.
The representatives of the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy and Great Britain reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a statement released after a two-day meeting in Münster, Germany.
They also indicated their willingness to maintain cooperation with Beijing when possible, particularly in terms of climate or global health.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the G7 countries wanted to respond in a coordinated way to China’s increasingly assertive global posture.
However, this position was not mentioned in the statement issued after the meeting.
“We recognize the need to align our policies towards the People’s Republic of China in the face of growing constraints, and to jointly roll back Beijing’s policies and practices that distort the market and harm workers and businesses in our countries,” said Antony Blinken.
(Report Humeyra Pamuk, Sarah Marsh and Sabine Siebold, with contributions from Michael Martina and Rami Ayyub; French version Camille Raynaud)
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