China has accused the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations of “interference in internal affairs” after their summit in Carbis Bay, England.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said on Monday that the leaders’ final communique contained “distorted facts” on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan and “slandered China.”
It “further exposed the sinister intentions of the United States and a few other countries,” the spokesperson said.
In the final statement, the G7 countries – the US, Britain, Germany, Canada, France, Italy and Japan – were more critical of China than ever before.
The group wants to take action against unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and Beijing’s heavy hand in the former British colony of Hong Kong.
The embassy said that the G7 should face the reality that Hong Kong was returned to China 24 years ago.
“This summit has shown the world that it is engaging in ‘small circles’ and group politics, power politics, and artificially creating confrontation and division,” the spokesperson said of the meeting.
This comes at a time when cooperation is needed on the pandemic, economic crisis and climate change, the statement criticized.
Some of the G7 leaders are travelling on to a NATO summit in Brussels on Monday, where for the first time clear calls are to be made to China to change some of its policies.
US President Joe Biden has promised to take a stronger stance against China, which he regards as being on the other other side of a battle of ideologies between democracy and autocracy.
Beijing maintains that its policies on the Uighur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang are not a question of human rights, but about fighting violence, separatism and extremism.
The US, the European Union and other states have imposed sanctions on China over the human rights situation in the Uighur region, to which Beijing has responded with punitive measures against Western politicians and organizations.
On the G7’s call for a peaceful resolution of tensions with Taiwan, the spokesperson said the island was an “inseparable part” of China. Other states must abide by
Beijing’s “One China” principle and stop inciting independence forces in Taiwan.
The embassy spokesperson also rejected accusations of unfair trade practices. Rather, he accused the US of harassing Chinese companies under the pretext of national security.
