China
14 dead, 5 missing in southwest China landslide
A landslide struck a rural district in China's southwestern Sichuan province on Sunday morning, killing 14 people and leaving five others missing, authorities said.
The mountainous region has seen rainfall lasting weeks, saturating the top soil.
More than 180 people were mobilized to help find those buried under the debris in Sichuan's Leshan county, with the search ongoing into the afternoon, the Communist Party committee of Jinhouke district said on its social media account.
With its humid, rainy climate, southwestern China is prone to landslides, especially in areas where there has been large-scale shifting of land due to farming, deforestation or engineering projects.
China defends buzzing American warship in Taiwan Strait, accuses US of provoking Beijing
China's defense minister defended sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait, telling a gathering of some of the world's top defense officials in Singapore on Sunday that such so-called "freedom of navigation" patrols are a provocation to China.
In his first international public address since becoming defense minister in March, Gen. Li Shangfu told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China doesn't have any problems with "innocent passage" but that "we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom of navigation (patrols), that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation."
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the same forum Saturday that Washington would not "flinch in the face of bullying or coercion" from China and would continue regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasize they are international waters, countering Beijing's sweeping territorial claims.
That same day, as a U.S. guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate were intercepted by a Chinese warship as they transited the strait between the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and mainland China. The Chinese vessel overtook the American ship and then veered across its bow at a distance of 150 yards (about 140 meters) in an "unsafe manner," according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Additionally, the U.S. has said a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month "performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver" while intercepting a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, flying directly in front of the plane's nose.
Those and previous incidents have raised concerns of a possible accident occurring that could lead to an escalation between the two nations at a time when tensions are already high.
Li suggested the U.S. and its allies had created the danger, and should instead should focus on taking "good care of your own territorial airspace and waters."
"The best way is for the countries, especially the naval vessels and fighter jets of countries, not to do closing actions around other countries' territories," he said through an interpreter. "What's the point of going there? In China we always say, 'Mind your own business.'"
In a wide-ranging speech, Li reiterated many of Beijing's well-known positions, including its claim on Taiwan, calling it "the core of our core interests."
He accused the U.S. and others of "meddling in China's internal affairs" by providing Taiwan with defense support and training, and conducting high-level diplomatic visits.
"China stays committed to the path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to defend our legitimate rights and interests, let alone sacrifice the nation's core interests," he said.
"As the lyrics of a well-known Chinese song go: 'When friends visit us, we welcome them with fine wine. When jackals or wolves come, we will face them with shotguns.'"
In his speech the previous day, Austin broadly outlined the U.S. vision for a "free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights."
In the pursuit of such, Austin said the U.S. was stepping up planning, coordination and training with "friends from the East China Sea to the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean" with shared goals "to deter aggression and to deepen the rules and norms that promote prosperity and prevent conflict."
Li scoffed at the notion, saying "some country takes a selective approach to rules and international laws."
"It likes forcing its own rules on others," he said. "Its so-called 'rules-based international order' never tells you what the rules are and who made these rules."
By contrast, he said, "we practice multilateralism and pursue win-win cooperation."
Li is under American sanctions that are part of a broad package of measures against Russia — but predate its invasion of Ukraine — that were imposed in 2018 over Li's involvement in China's purchase of combat aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow.
The sanctions, which broadly prevent Li from doing business in the United States, do not prevent him from holding official talks, American defense officials have said.
Still, he refused Austin's invitation to talk on the sidelines of the conference, though the two did shake hands before sitting down at opposite sides of the same table together as the forum opened Friday.
Austin said that was not enough.
"A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement," Austin said.
The U.S. has noted that since 2021 — well before Li became defense minister — China has declined or failed to respond to more than a dozen requests from the U.S. Defense Department to talk with senior leaders, as well as multiple requests for standing dialogues and working-level engagements.
Li said that "China is open to communications between our two countries and also between our two militaries," but without mentioning the sanctions, said exchanges had to be "based on mutual respect."
"That is a very fundamental principle," he said. "If we do not even have mutual respect, than our communications will not be productive."
He said that he recognized that any "severe conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. will be an unbearable disaster for the world," and that the two countries need to find ways to improve relations, saying they were "at a record low."
"History has proven time and again that both China and the United States will benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation," he said.
"China seeks to develop a new type of major-country relationship with the United States. As for the U.S. side, it needs to act with sincerity, match its words with deeds, and take concrete actions together with China to stabilize the relations and prevent further deterioration," Li said.
China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed-up national security measures
China's ruling Communist Party has warned of the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence while calling for heightened national security measures.
The statement issued after a meeting Tuesday chaired by party leader and President Xi Jinping underscores the tension between the government's determination to seize global leadership in cutting-edge technology and concerns about the possible social and political harms of such technologies.
It also followed a warning by scientists and tech industry leaders in the U.S., including high-level executives at Microsoft and Google, about the perils that artificial intelligence poses to humankind.
The meeting in Beijing discussed the need for "dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence," the official Xinhua News Agency said.
"It was stressed at the meeting that the complexity and severity of national security problems faced by our country have increased dramatically. The national security front must build up strategic self-confidence, have enough confidence to secure victory, and be keenly aware of its own strengths and advantages," Xinhua said.
"We must be prepared for worst-case and extreme scenarios, and be ready to withstand the major test of high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms," it said.
Xi, who is China's head of state, commander of the military and chair of the party's National Security Commission, called at the meeting for "staying keenly aware of the complicated and challenging circumstances facing national security."
China needs a "new pattern of development with a new security architecture," Xinhua reported Xi as saying.
China already dedicates vast resources to suppressing any perceived political threats to the party's dominance, with spending on the police and security personnel exceeding that devoted to the military.
While it relentlessly censors in-person protests and online criticism, citizens have continued to express dissatisfaction with policies, most recently the draconian lockdown measures enacted to combat the spread of COVID-19.
China has been cracking down on its tech sector in an effort to reassert party control, but like other countries it is scrambling to find ways to regulate fast-developing AI technology.
The most recent party meeting reinforced the need to "assess the potential risks, take precautions, safeguard the people's interests and national security, and ensure the safety, reliability and ability to control AI," the official newspaper Beijing Youth Daily reported Tuesday.
Worries about artificial intelligence systems outsmarting humans and slipping out of control have intensified with the rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, and Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist known as the godfather of artificial intelligence, were among the hundreds of leading figures who signed the statement on Tuesday that was posted on the Center for AI Safety's website.
"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," the statement said.
More than 1,000 researchers and technologists, including Elon Musk, who is currently on a visit to China, had signed a much longer letter earlier this year calling for a six-month pause on AI development.
The missive said AI poses "profound risks to society and humanity," and some involved in the topic have proposed a United Nations treaty to regulate the technology.
China warned as far back as 2018 of the need to regulate AI, but has nonetheless funded a vast expansion in the field as part of efforts to seize the high ground on cutting-edge technologies.
A lack of privacy protections and strict party control over the legal system have also resulted in near-blanket use of facial, voice and even walking-gait recognition technology to identify and detain those seen as threatening, particularly political dissenters and religious minorities, especially Muslims.
Members of the Uyghur and other mainly Muslim ethnic groups have been singled out for mass electronic monitoring and more than 1 million people have been detained in prison-like political re-education camps that China calls deradicalization and job training centers.
AI's risks are seen mainly in its ability to control robotic, self-governing weaponry, financial tools and computers governing power grids, health centers, transportation networks and other key infrastructure.
China's unbridled enthusiasm for new technology and willingness to tinker with imported or stolen research and to stifle inquiries into major events such as the COVID-19 outbreak heighten concerns over its use of AI.
"China's blithe attitude toward technological risk, the government's reckless ambition, and Beijing's crisis mismanagement are all on a collision course with the escalating dangers of AI," technology and national security scholars Bill Drexel and Hannah Kelley wrote in an article published this week in the journal Foreign Affairs.
Dhaka, Beijing review Rohingya repatriation effort
Bangladesh and China on Sunday (May 28, 2023) reviewed the ongoing efforts for repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar smoothly and on an expedited basis.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen thanked the Chinese government for making sincere efforts for the safe and quick repatriation of the displaced population.
Momen and Vice Foreign Minister of China Sun Weidon agreed that the problem needed an urgent solution, because if left unaddressed for any longer, it could potentially evolve as a tangible threat to regional security and stability.
During his meeting with Momen, the vice foreign minister of China highly lauded the remarkable socio-economic transformation of Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Read more: Rohingya Case: OIC Secretary General seeks support from member states
Momen highly appreciated the substantial contributions made by China towards the developmental journey of Bangladesh.
He profusely admired the excellent bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and expressed optimism that the constructive and collaborative relations would be further strengthened in the days ahead.
Momen congratulated Sun for the successful holding of the bilateral consultations on May 27 in Dhaka.
Noting the deep cultural, historical and civilization links between the two countries, Foreign Minister Momen mentioned about the visit of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to China in the 1950s and the book he wrote on what he saw.
Read more: Rohingyas not satisfied with the Myanmar delegation’s assurances
Sharing his admiration for the magnificent Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Sun mentioned that the structure stands out as a new symbol of the friendship between Bangladesh and China and observed that the two countries could achieve miracles through greater and better synergies.
Momen invited and encouraged larger flow of Chinese FDI into Bangladesh for mutual benefit of both the countries.
He recalled with profound appreciation the assistance that China offered during the Covid-19 pandemic and mentioned his brief meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister in Dhaka in January this year.
While discussing the facility of duty-free and quota-free access to 98% Bangladeshi products to China, he hoped that all necessary measures would be taken so that Bangladesh could get optimum benefit out of this arrangement.
Read more: Joint operation to prevent crime, violence in Rohingya camps soon: Home Minister
He also stressed on an expedited implementation of the projects agreed during the last visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh.
Sun praised Bangladesh’s energetic youth population capable of making a significant change in the society and economy.
He referred to the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative of the Chinese President Xi Jinping and hoped that Bangladesh reaped the maximum benefits out of this grand scheme.
Russian prime minister says pressure from West is strengthening ties with China
Pressure from the West is strengthening Russia's ties with China, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing Wednesday.
Mishustin's visit comes as Russia is increasingly turning to China for diplomatic and economic support amid growing isolation over its invasion of Ukraine.
Also Read: G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules
In opening remarks at his meeting Wednesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Mishustin did not mention the 15-month-old war that China, in deference to Moscow, has refused to criticize, focusing instead on economic cooperation between the neighbors that have partnered in challenging the U.S. lead in global affairs.
Relations between the two countries are "at an unprecedented high level," influenced by the "increased turbulence in the international arena and the pattern of sensational pressure from the collective West," Mishustin said.
Also Read; New sanctions: How effective are they in stopping Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
China says it is a neutral party between Russia and Ukraine and wants to help broker an end to the conflict. But it has blamed the West for provoking Moscow and has maintained strong diplomatic and trade ties with Russia in opposition to sanctions against it.
China's special envoy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials during talks in Kyiv this month. The visit followed a phone call last month between the Ukrainian leader and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Zelenskyy described as "long and meaningful" and which marked the first known contact between the two since the Russian invasion began.
Also Read: The cyber gulag: How Russia tracks, censors and controls its citizens
Beijing released a peace plan in February but Ukraine's allies largely dismissed it, insisting that Putin must withdraw his forces. Zelenskyy's own 10-point peace plan includes a tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed by Russia.
While sidestepping the conflict, Mishustin emphasized Russia's role as a provider of oil and gas to China and their bonds formed as initial allies among communist nations.
"The peoples of Russia and China cherish their history, rich culture and traditions. We support the further development of our culture, exchanges and communication," Mishustin said.
Myanmar-China border trade fair to be held in Nay Pyi Taw
The Myanmar (Lashio)-China (Lincang) border trade fair is scheduled to be held in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.
The four-day trade fair, jointly organized by Myanmar's commerce ministry and China's Lincang city government, will be held on May 25-28.
"The trade fair is aimed at boosting trade relations between the two countries and strengthening interaction between traders of the two neighbors," Daw Naw Muta Kapaw, director-general of the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organization under the Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua.
"It is the first in-person Myanmar-China border trade fair since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," the official said, adding that the trade fair was virtually held in the last two years due to the pandemic.
The trade fair will feature more than 100 stalls, including more than 40 from China and about 70 from Myanmar, she said.
Companies from China will exhibit their products including coffee and tea products, macadamia, instant foods, solar appliances, electrical appliances, kitchenware and other consumer products, while Myanmar's gems and jewelry, local produces, and products from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) will be on display.
The last in-person Myanmar-China border trade fair took place in Lashio of Myanmar in November 2019.
Journalism award to recognize outstanding reporting on Bangladesh-China trade, investment ties
A new journalism competition will be held in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka to encourage more and better-quality investigative reporting to bolster Bangladesh-China ties in trade, commerce and investment.
An agreement on the Bangladesh China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCCI) - the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) Journalism Award was signed here Saturday. Both sides have decided to jointly hold the journalism award event.
The "BCCCI-ERF Journalism Award" will cover five areas, including the trade and investment ties between Bangladesh and China, how the high-quality development of China has helped Bangladesh, science and technology, the Belt and Road Initiative and others.
Noting the professional significance of such an event, Al Mamun Mridha, secretary general of BCCCI, hoped that it would further encourage the economic journalists to analyze the topics of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and China.
Chinese FM spokesperson slams G7 summit's hyping up of China-related issues
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Saturday made remarks on G7 Hiroshima Summit's hyping up of China-related issues, urging the countries to stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs.
According to reports, the G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique and other documents adopted at the G7 Hiroshima Summit contain comments on the situation in the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and China's nuclear power, professed G7 opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and claims about "economic coercion" that allude to China.
The spokesperson said the G7 makes high-sounding claims about "promoting a peaceful, stable and prosperous world," but what it does is hindering international peace, undermining regional stability and curbing other countries' development. That simply shows how little international credibility means to the G7.
Also Read: G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules
Despite China's serious concerns, the G7 used issues concerning China to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made serious demarches to the summit's host Japan and other parties concerned, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson stressed that resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese. The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Noting that the G7 keeps emphasizing cross-Strait peace, and yet says nothing about the need to oppose "Taiwan independence," the spokesperson said this in effect constitutes connivance and support for "Taiwan independence" forces, and will only result in having a serious impact on cross-Strait peace and stability.
Affairs related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet are purely China's internal affairs, the spokesperson said, stressing that China firmly opposes interference by any external force in those affairs under the pretext of human rights.
China is a firm defender and contributor to international maritime rule of law, the spokesperson said, adding that the East China Sea and the South China Sea have remained overall stable. Relevant countries need to respect regional countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability and stop using maritime issues to drive a wedge between regional countries and incite bloc confrontation.
On "economic coercion", the spokesperson said the massive unilateral sanctions and acts of "decoupling" and disrupting industrial and supply chains make the U.S. the real coercer that politicizes and weaponizes economic and trade relations, urging the G7 not to become an accomplice in economic coercion.
Noting that China is firmly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy, the spokesperson said China has honored its pledge to "no first use" of nuclear weapons and always kept its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security.
China is the only one among the five nuclear weapon states to have made those pledges. China's position is above board and should not be distorted or denigrated, the spokesperson added.
The international community does not and will not accept the G7-dominated Western rules that seek to divide the world based on ideologies and values, still less will it succumb to the rules of exclusive small blocs designed to serve "America-first" and the vested interests of the few, the spokesperson said, urging G7 to reflect on its behavior and change course.
"We urge G7 members to catch up with the trend of the times, focus on addressing the various issues they have at home, stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs, stop containing and bludgeoning other countries, stop creating and stoking bloc confrontation and get back to the right path of dialogue and cooperation," said the spokesperson.
World leaders warn China and North Korea on nukes as Ukraine's Zelenskyy travels to G7 summit
Leaders of the world's most powerful democracies warned China and North Korea against building up their nuclear arsenals, pivoting to major northeast Asian crises ahead of the arrival later Saturday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The focus on Asia at the Group of Seven summit comes as leaders tighten sanctions meant to punish Moscow and change the course of its 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Japan confirmed that Zelenskyy's decision to attend the G7 in person stemmed from his “strong wish” to participate in talks that will influence his nation's defense against Russia.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy would have direct engagement at the summit, a day after Biden announced his support for training Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, a precursor to eventually providing those aircraft to Ukraine’s Air Force.
World leaders have faced a high-stakes balancing act in Hiroshima as they look to address a raft of global worries demanding urgent attention, including climate change, AI, poverty and economic instability, nuclear proliferation and, above all, the war in Ukraine.
Also read: Bangladeshi youth demand G7 nations stop financing deadly fossil fuels
China, the world's No. 2 economy, sits at the nexus of many of those concerns.
There is increasing anxiety in Asia that Beijing, which has been steadily building up its nuclear bomb program, could try to seize Taiwan by force, sparking a wider conflict. China claims the self-governing island as its own and regularly sends ships and warplanes near it.
The G7 leaders issued a statement warning that China's “accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency (or) meaningful dialogue poses a concern to global and regional stability.”
North Korea, which has been testing missiles at a torrid pace in an attempt to perfect a nuclear program meant to target the mainland United States, must completely abandon its nuclear bomb ambitions, the leaders said, "including any further nuclear tests or launches that use ballistic missile technology. North Korea cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon State under" international nuclear treaties, the statement said.
The green light on F-16 training is the latest shift by the Biden administration as it moves to arm Ukraine with more advanced and lethal weaponry, following earlier decisions to send rocket launcher systems and Abrams tanks. The United States has insisted that it is sending weapons to Ukraine to defend itself and has discouraged attacks by Ukraine into Russian territory.
“We’ve reached a moment where it is time to look down the road again to say what is Ukraine going to need as part of a future force, to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression as we go forward,” Sullivan said.
An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the deliberations, said Zelenskyy will take part in two separate sessions Sunday. The first session will be with G7 members only and will focus on the war in Ukraine. The second session will include the G7 as well as the other nations invited to take part in the summit, and will focus on “peace and stability.”
The G7 leaders also used their summit to roll out a new wave of global sanctions on Moscow as well as plans to enhance the effectiveness of existing financial penalties meant to constrain President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver,” the G7 leaders said in a statement released after closed-door meetings. They vowed “to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“Russia started this war and can end this war,” they said.
Zelenskyy has consistently called for the supply of Western fighter jets to bolster his country’s defenses against Russia’s invasion, but has until now faced skepticism from the United States that they would turn the tide in the war.
Now, as Ukraine has improved its air defenses with a host of Western-supplied anti-aircraft systems and prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, officials believe the jets could become useful in the battle and essential to the country’s long-term security.
Biden's decisions on when, how many, and who will provide the fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway, Biden told leaders.
The F-16 training is to be conducted in Europe and will likely begin in the coming weeks. That’s according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s private conversations with allies.
Zelenskyy said Friday that he had opened a visit to Saudi Arabia, where Arab leaders were holding their own summit.
The latest sanctions aimed at Russia include tighter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in the war effort. More than 125 individuals and organizations across 20 countries have been hit with U.S. sanctions. The financial penalties have been primarily focused on sanctions evaders connected to technology procurement for the Kremlin. The Commerce Department also added 71 firms to its own list.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Friday sanctions “will further tighten the vise on Putin’s ability to wage his barbaric invasion and will advance our global efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions.”
In addition, new reporting requirements were issued for people and firms that have any interest in Russian Central Bank assets. The purpose is to “fully map holdings of Russia’s sovereign assets that will remain immobilized in G7 jurisdictions until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine,” the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but there are questions about the effectiveness.
Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said going into the summit that while G7 countries “deserve credit” for their sanctions, “Russia still maintains capacity to fight this war in the long term.”
She added that war's costs are "easily manageable for Russia in the next couple of years at least, and the cumulative effect of sanctions is just not strong enough to radically alter that.”
The G7 nations said in Friday’s statement that they would work to keep Russia from using the international financial system to prosecute its war, and they urged other nations to stop providing Russia with support and weapons “or face severe costs.”
World leaders Friday visited a peace park dedicated to the tens of thousands who died in the world’s first wartime atomic bomb detonation. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in parliament, wants nuclear disarmament to be a major focus of discussions.
The peace park contains reminders of Aug. 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, a city that has become synonymous with anti-nuclear peace efforts.
Biden, who scrapped plans to travel on to Papua New Guinea and Australia after his stay in Japan so that he can get back to debt limit talks in Washington, arranged to meet Saturday on the G-7 sidelines with leaders of the so-called Quad partnership, made up of Japan, Australia, India and the U.S.
As G7 attendees made their way to Hiroshima, Moscow unleashed yet another aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital. Loud explosions thundered through Kyiv during the early hours, marking the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the city after weeks of relative quiet.
In a bit of dueling diplomacy, Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting the leaders of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in the Chinese city of Xi’an.
The G7 leaders are also to discuss efforts to strengthen the global economy and address rising prices that are squeezing families and government budgets around the world, particularly in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A U.S. official said the leaders on Saturday would issue a joint communique outlining new projects in the G7's global infrastructure development initiative, which is meant to offer countries an alternative to China's investment dollars.
The G7 includes Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, as well as the European Union.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warns of China threats during Taiwan visit
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of the economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.
Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.
Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU nations and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of China’s threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.
“There are those who say they don’t want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation at a hotel in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.
“China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history,” she said.
"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate — or we take action to prevent conflict,” Truss said.
Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as “the biggest long-term threat to Britain” in comments last summer and for urging the closure of Chinese government-run cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom of their own volition.
In Beijing, spokesperson for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office Mao Xiaoguang accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of "spending the tax money of the Taiwanese people to bribe some anti-China politicians who have stepped down from office to stage a farce of seeking external support for independence in Taiwan."
Ma also renewed China's military threats against Taiwan, a day after the Chinese Defense Ministry condemned U.S. military assistance to the island.
“If they continue to challenge and force us, we will have to take decisive measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ma told reporters at a biweekly news conference. “No one should underestimate our strong determination, unwavering will and strong ability.”
Next year is seen by some as a crucial period for tense relations between the sides, with U.S. and Taiwanese voters going to the polls. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has served the maximum two terms and Vice President Lai Ching-te, a strong independence supporter, will be running for the DPP.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, on Wednesday nominated local politician Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in the January election. Hou rose to prominence as a top police official but has relatively little experience dealing with China and Taiwan's international partners.
Taiwan will also elect a new legislature, which is currently controlled by the ruling party.
China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.
Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.
And she praised Taiwan as “an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism” whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.
“A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.
"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you,” she said.
Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macron’s views were in line with other European countries on Taiwan’s status.
“The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No,” Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”
Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, “We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.”