Facts: G7
The G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, will be held on May 19-21.
The G7 group was formed in 1975 and stands for Group of Seven. It is an informal forum for the countries commonly referred to as the world’s richest: France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and the United States.
The EU also participates with representatives.
China, whose economic and political power took off long after the G7 was formed, is not included – despite its importance today.
Between 1997 and 2014, the club was called the G8. Then Russia was also included, whose trust was then considered spent with the invasion of Crimea in 2014.
This weekend’s summit follows a G7 meeting in Japan’s Niigata on May 11-13, when finance ministers and central bank governors from the superpower club agreed on continued inflation control, increased support for Ukraine and tougher sanctions against Russia.
China should know that the major powers within the G7 stand united regarding the support for Taiwan and the sanctions against Russia, which Chinese companies have been repeatedly accused of circumventing. At the same time, the G7 countries’ economic relationship with China should be characterized by less risk-taking – without cutting ties. This is the expected tone of voice during the three-day meeting, which begins on Friday.
— This G7 is not an anti-Chinese G7, French President Emmanuel Macron said this week according to the AFP news agency.
— We have a positive message for China: that we are ready to cooperate on the condition that we can negotiate together.
The map shows the seven countries that are part of the G7. Nuclear tensions
The G7 superpower club consists of France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, the United States and the EU. Recently, the EU has angered Beijing by proposing export restrictions on “sensitive technology” for eight Chinese companies it suspects are doing business with Moscow.
Similar proposals are expected to be discussed during the meeting in Japan. The hope is to close the loopholes that enable the sanctions against Russia to be circumvented.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden in Washington in January.
The meeting is being held at a critical time, with nuclear tensions in the world at their highest level since the end of the Cold War due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The fact that the leaders – including US President Joe Biden – gather in Hiroshima is therefore considered particularly symbolic, reports American NPR.
Zelenskyy participates via link
This year marks 78 years since the United States, on the orders of President Harry Truman, dropped an atomic bomb on the city, leading to the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II. Over 100,000 people were killed by the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
An unusual number of countries that are not part of the G7 are, according to AFP, invited to this weekend’s meeting, including India and Brazil. In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to participate via link.
Zelensky’s participation was announced in conjunction with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to war-torn Ukraine in March. The Japanese visit to Ukraine coincided with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to the Russian capital, Moscow.