BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) – China’s state-backed Global Times on Monday dubbed the G7 an “anti-China workshop” after Beijing summoned Japan’s envoy and rebuked Britain. weekend.
A joint statement issued on Saturday hit out at China on issues ranging from Taiwan and maritime claims to economic coercion and human rights, and highlighted tensions between Beijing and a group of wealthy nations including the United States.
“The United States is working hard to spin an anti-China web in the Western world,” the Global Times said in an editorial published on Monday, adding that the G7 has become an anti-China workshop.
“It is not only about brazen interference in China’s internal affairs and defaming China, but also about an unquenchable desire for confrontation between the parties,” he said.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said it strongly opposed the G7 communiqué and announced late Sunday that it had summoned Japan’s ambassador to China as part of its protest over hosting the summit.
Russia, a close ally of China also singled out at the G7 communique for its invasion of Ukraine, said the summit was an “incubator” for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria.
Separately, China’s embassy in Britain urged London on Sunday to stop demonizing China, with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying Beijing represented the world’s biggest challenge to security and prosperity.
Despite Beijing’s sharp reaction, US President Joe Biden said he expected a softening of ties with China “very soon”. The Group of Seven (G7) also includes Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
