Secretary of State John F. Kerry and other G-7 foreign ministers took barely veiled shots at China over rising tensions in the South China Sea, warning against “unilateral” actions over clashing territorial claims in the strategic waterway and provoking an angry reaction from Beijing.
The Group of Seven ministers were meeting to nail down a final agenda for President Obama and other leaders when they meet for their annual summit next month at the coastal city of Shima. Host Japan itself has clashed with China over claims to disputed islands in the waters off both countries.
At Monday’s meeting the G-7 foreign ministers voiced “strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions” in the region. China is not a member of the group.
The statement stopped short of explicitly naming China as the aggressor, but there was little doubt Beijing was the intended audience.
China, which has clashed repeatedly with neighboring countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia over the South China Sea, captured world attention recently by constructing military bases on man-made islands they control there.
Officials in Beijing were quick to claim that territorial disputes in the region are being “exaggerated” by the G-7.
“If the G-7 wants to continue playing a major role in the world, it should take an attitude of seeking truth from the facts to handle the issues the international community is most concerned with at the moment,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.
China is building up reefs in the South China Sea, which is believed to be home to massive untapped oil and gas deposits, and through which some $5 trillion in international trade is shipped each year.
Chinese officials were particularly critical of Japan, the summit host. The two are regional rivals with unresolved issues dating back to their conflicted history during World War II. China on Monday accused Tokyo of essentially hijacking the upcoming summit to settle scores and enlist the U.S. and G-7’s European powers in its fight.
“If the G-7 is taken hostage by the selfish interests of certain countries, then this probably won’t be beneficial to the G-7’s influence, role and future development,” Mr. Lu said at a daily news briefing in Beijing, according to Reuters.
An editorial published a day earlier on the English-language website of Xinhua, China’s official government-controlled press agency, went further, asserting that Japanese leaders were keen to exploit the G-7 meeting as a way to undercut China’s standing in Asia.
“Japan’s plan to place the South China Sea at the top of the agenda” is designed to “show a regional wave-maker keen on rocking the boat,” read the editorial published on Sunday. “Long uncomfortable with China’s rising influence in the region, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration have never passed up an opportunity to trip up and contain China.”
The G7 statement was broadly worded and urged restraint from all nations in the region.
“We call on all states to pursue the peaceful management and settlement of maritime disputes through applicable internationally recognized legal dispute settlement mechanisms, including arbitration,” the statement said.
The Philippines recently called on the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague to rule on whether China has violated international law with its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. While a ruling is expected in June, Beijing has said it simply does not recognize the validity of the case.
The Obama administration has also actively challenged China’s expansive territorial claims, sending U.S. warships through waters China claims are part of its exclusive economic zone.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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