Beijing chides Japan, Britain and ‘anti-China’ G7 summit

State-run Chinese news outlet Global Times called the G7 an “anti-China workshop” on Monday, after Beijing summoned Japan’s envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the weekend G7 summit in Hiroshima.

A joint communique issued on Saturday singled out China on issues ranging from Taiwan and maritime claims, to economic coercion and human rights, underscoring the tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries which includes the United States, Reuters reported.

“The US is pushing hard to weave an anti-China net in the Western world,” Global Times said in an editorial on Monday titled ‘G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop’.

“This is not just a matter of brutal interference in China’s internal affairs and smearing China, but also an undisguised urge for confrontation between the camps”.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said it firmly opposed the G7 statement and late Sunday said it had summoned Japan’s ambassador to China as part of its protest to the summit host.

Russia, a close ally of China that was also called out in the G7 statement over its invasion of Ukraine, said the summit was an “incubator” for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria.

Separately, China’s embassy in Britain urged London to stop slandering China on Sunday, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing represents the world’s greatest challenge to security and prosperity.

Despite Beijing’s pointed reaction, U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China “very shortly”. The Group of Seven (G7) also includes Canada, France, Germany and Italy.