In recent years, the group of seven leading industrialized nations, known as the G7, have made a strong effort to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. At the same time, the Biden administration has been building bridges between Europe, and the Indo-Pacific, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “So many of the issues that we have to face are shared issues, shared concerns, whether they’re challenges and threats, or whether they’re opportunities.”
“Over four years we have forged much greater convergence, more than ever before, on common approaches to China – a shared commitment, for example, to economic and security de-risking, dealing with over-capacity and unfair trade practices coming from Beijing, focused together on export controls on the most sensitive technology, working together on investment screening, standing against economic coercion, building mineral supply security, supply chains more generally and their security resilience, and helping to build sustainable infrastructure together around the world.”
Cooperation among the G7 nations is key, said Secretary Blinken. “We are much stronger, we’re much more effective, when we’re acting together.”
“In the economic area, when we’re dealing with policies of concern by China, any of our countries acting alone compared to when we’re acting together simply cannot be as effective. In the case of the United States, we’re 20 percent or so of world GDP. When we’re acting together with our G7 partners, it’s more like 50 percent, and that weight is a weight that can’t be ignored.”
Finally, the G7 is concerned about “China’s ongoing support for Russia’s defense industrial base – all of which is allowing Russia to continue the aggression against Ukraine.” This is a particularly worrying issue now that North Korea has sent troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
“China has an important role to play in using … its influence with the DPRK, North Korea, as well as with Russia – to cease these activities. And in the absence of that, I think one of the things you’re going to see is the countries in the Indo-Pacific region … including the United States, including South Korea, including Japan, taking further steps to strengthen our own deterrence and defense capacities.”
“And these are undoubtedly steps that, while not directed at China, China will not like,” said Secretary Blinken. “We … would all look to China to use its influence to try to bring this to an end.”
