G7 leaders outside the Itsukushima Shrine in Karuizawa, Nagano. Photo / G7 Japan Media Centre
G7 leaders outside the Itsukushima Shrine in Karuizawa, Nagano. Photo / G7 Japan Media Centre
EDITORIAL
The ever-present victims of failed efforts to maintain world peace haunt the G7 Summit in Japan.
In 2023, as current holders of the G7 Presidency, Japan is host. The implications of what was at stake this year do not need to be voiced in Hiroshima, a city that sufferedcatastrophic damage from an atomic bomb and continues to seek lasting world peace.
In the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, global politics are at a pivotal point, facing a further ever-destabilising climate and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This was underscored by the presence of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks coinciding with the summit. On this, the G7 pressed for more sanctions against Russia and more support for Ukraine.
The summit had two perspectives in focus. Firstly, demonstrating the G7′s determination to uphold the international order based on the rule of law, rejecting any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or the threat to use nuclear weapons, as Russia has done, or the use of nuclear weapons.
Secondly, strengthening outreach to the “Global South” by demonstrating the G7′s contributions to the issues of their concern. The Global South is the collective term for the nations regarded as having a relatively low level of economic and industrial development, generally countries and regions in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Illustration / Rod Emmerson
With these nations in mind, the G7 warned countries attempting to use trade as a weapon would face “consequences”, in a signal to China over practices Washington says amount to economic bullying.
The G7 spoke of the need to reaffirm and strengthen co-operation on the “free and open Indo-Pacific”. This was voiced in a joint statement supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific and opposing any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.
Push came to shove with a declaration the G7 will “continue to closely work together in responding to issues related to China as well as North Korea, including nuclear and missile issues and abductions”.
Inevitably, Russia and China responded with protests, the latter issuing stern representations with summit host Japan. “It is important to remind the G7 that the days when a few Western countries colluded to manipulate the world are over,” China’s embassy in Japan said in a statement.
It’s difficult to see how the jousting has advanced US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s claim that G7 nations wanted to “de-risk, not decouple” from China in view of its status as the world’s second-largest economy.
World leaders insisting that others take peaceful paths are to be commended but it’s to be hoped they understand the irony of their situation.
G7 leaders visit the Itsukushima Shrine in Karuizawa, Nagano. Photo / G7 Japan Media Centre
While the G7 leaders in Japan reaffirmed a commitment to a “world without nuclear weapons”, four members of the group have almost half of the estimated current stockpile of nuclear weapons, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Russia still maintains the largest arsenal.
It is harder still to see how international order can be found, much to the chagrin, one suspects, of the lost souls of Hiroshima.
