Group of Seven (G7) leaders, including those from the EU, are meeting for two days in Hiroshima, Japan and will be joined by representatives from India, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. Possible topics of discussion are Ukraine and China's growing power and its threat to Taiwan, all of which could impact on global economic and energy security and supply chains. India is currently chairing the G20 with the G7 summit likely to ensure that developmental issues concerning the Group of 77 developing countries are given more prominence.
Leaders from the Group of Seven countries arrived in Hiroshima this week for their annual summit, accompanied by representatives from India, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, Australia, Comoros and Cook Islands. Despite China and Russia not receiving an invitation, concerns about the two nations are still high on the agenda. Talks centred on what the G7 views as economic coercion by China, with a conclusion that developing nations in the Global South need to be engaged with.
Fighting between ethnic rebels and Myanmar's military near the Thai border has reportedly stopped a significant economic development project from promoting trade among Mekong Delta countries. The East-West Economic Corridor runs for 1,700km across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, but was nearly complete before the military took control of Myanmar’s government more than two years ago. However, the clashes between ethnic rebels and the military appear unlikely to stop anytime soon.
Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to sell its electric vehicles (EVs) in Southeast Asia, requiring the company to adopt right-side steering for the region. The firm, founded by Vietnam's richest man, will retrofit four of its EVs accordingly, it said. It has not specified which markets in the region it is targeting, but motorists in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei all drive on the left.
Move Forward, a pro-democracy party in Thailand led by 42-year-old former tech executive Pita Limjaroenrat, won big in the country's recent elections to become the large force in Thai politics, marking a rebuke not only to army rule but also the regime’s ineptitude. Thailand’s vulnerability to coups has long seemed anomalous. Its success is a rebuke not only to the principle of army rule but also to the regime’s ineptitude. Thailand's economy is creating fewer opportunities and attracting less foreign direct investment than its regional rivals. Its post-pandemic recovery is the slowest of any major economy in South-East Asia. Thailand would benefit hugely were Move Forward to fulfil its pledge to break up the monopolies gumming up industries such as agriculture and telecommunications where the operators have made fortunes. New battle-lines have been drawn; Thailand’s halfway-house democracy no longer looks like an option.
The Philippines will receive Australian drones and other surveillance technology to strengthen their coast guard maritime domain awareness capabilities. The US and the Philippines have been holding talks on proposed joint naval patrols in the South China Sea, and earlier this year, the Australian Defence Minister and his Philippine counterpart said they were looking at Australian and Philippine forces carrying out joint patrols. Wong thanked the Philippine Government for help in discovering a sunken Japanese ship that resulted in Australia’s largest maritime wartime loss, announcing the potential move to joint patrols is to ensure “sovereignty is respected”. Australia will cooperate with partners to “exercise freedom of navigation and overflight."
LT Foods, the Indian rice producer that sells Daawat basmati rice, has reported a 79% surge in quarterly profit due to strong demand for its packaged rice and robust export prices. Consolidated net profit rose to INR1.28bn ($15.65m) for the quarter and the company said the number of households consuming its products grew 31.26% to 4.5 million in the fiscal period. LT Foods exports its rice to more than 60 countries, including the US, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.
Vietnam has accused China of violating its sovereign rights by sending a research ship into its exclusive economic zone, while also castigating another neighbour, the Philippines, for laying navigational buoys in disputed seas. The South China Sea is an important trade route and conduit for more than $3tn of annual commerce. Tensions are high between China and Vietnam in relation to parts of the sea, while the Philippines also disputes China's claim to the disputed Spratly archipelago.
Singapore has hanged a 36-year-old man who was convicted of possessing less than 3.5 pounds of marijuana, marking the country's second execution in three weeks for the crime. Singapore mandates the death penalty for people convicted of drug trafficking since 1975 and in most cases, the penalty is given for trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis. Human rights groups have condemned the punishment, which they consider grossly excessive, but opposition to Singapore's drug policy has not gained much traction as the public is still largely pro-death penalty.
The leaders of the G7 industrialised nations have gathered in the Japanese city of Hiroshima for their annual summit. The meeting is expected to focus on the West's relationship with China, as well as Russia's war in Ukraine and the ongoing global economic uncertainties. To avoid possible “economic blackmail”, G7 leaders are expected to diversify their supply chains and markets, but are not aiming to “decouple” from China. In terms of military activity, discussions will include China’s behaviour in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, yet Robert Ward, director of geo-economics and strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, believes that the G7 nations are unlikely to agree on specific measures to counteract China's power in the Indo-Pacific.
China's youth unemployment rate hit a record high of 20.4% in April, up from 19.6% in March, as a record 11.58 million college graduates enter the job market this year and opportunities are limited due to the coronavirus pandemic. The youth unemployment rate in China is high compared to most other major economies and some emerging markets, with Hong Kong, Germany, Japan and South Korea all reporting a youth unemployment rate of below 7%. In the US, the youth unemployment rate fell from 14.85% in 2020 to 6.5% in April, the lowest since 1953.
The TikTok Ban Is Mired in a Stalemate in US Congress
Diplomat
23-05-18 14:26
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning TikTok from public schools and government servers, part of a growing movement in Republican-led states to counter China's influence. However, a national ban on TikTok has encountered obstacles in Congress, with the administration appearing to be caught between two opposing forces. While President Biden has emerged as the highest-ranking Democrat supporting a TikTok ban, several Republican lawmakers support the RESTRICT Act but share concerns about the party losing young voters as the traditionally Republican voting bloc of "Silent Generation" and baby boomers dwindles. There are indications that bills targeting TikTok may be more performative than actually effective.
Leaders of the G7 gathered in Hiroshima, Japan this week to discuss several issues including the economic and security tensions with China and how the most advanced economies in the world can de-risk strategic industries and diversify global supply chains. A key issue at the summit was the need for leaders to reaffirm their pledge of support for Ukraine, and commitment to impose costs and pressure on Russia and any other nations that assist it. Leaders will focus on calling out China’s actions such as economic retaliation against nations over policy disputes and other agreements, and pledging that their nation's industries will resist such coercion and take concrete steps to start building resiliency. To make the world’s largest economies more resilient in strategic minerals and rare earths, the G7 summit should agree on a plan to collectively become more resilient. This week’s summit should also address how the G7 forum can continue to bolster the rules-based international order, its democratic values and norms, and how to drive technical standard-setting for emerging technologies.
The G7 is significant as it reflects an effort to bring in key countries in the Global South to balance against China’s growing diplomatic and economic influence in that sphere. This year’s summit coincides with a Quad Leaders’ meeting that will take place in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 following President Biden’s decision to shorten his Asia trip. The leaders of Australia, Japan, and India will come together to discuss the changing geopolitical scenario in the Indo-Pacific and will present China with a united and coherent strategy to tackle issues that put current international norms at risk. Given the strategic importance of the Indo-Pacific, there is a growing need for stakeholders to consolidate the rules-based order. It is without doubt that the Quad and G7 grouping need to find a sustainable consensus that would provide space for regional peace and stability in an increasingly competitive and contested world order. These forums should work together to fight back and preserve a space of international affairs which could, directly or indirectly, hurt China’s interests. Any concrete effort to this end will require a competitive collective approach and a shared vision for addressing complex challenges.
The world's most advanced democracies have gathered for the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, to discuss heavy sanctions against Russia, to prevent conflict with China and to pay homage to the costs of war. The summit is set to feature heavily on strategies to end Russia's aggression in Ukraine and cut Ukraine's overreliance on Russian energy exports. The G7 countries will discuss how to better trace diamonds to cut trade in the precious gems from Russia, and how best to discourage global investment in China, without alienating the country completely.
Leaders from the world’s seven largest advanced economies are gathering in Japan for the G7 summit, but not China, the country responsible for a significant share of global growth. The leaders are expected to condemn China’s use of trade attacks against neighbours and also note China’s framing of the G7 as an outmoded, Western, order. Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited leaders from Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam and Comoros to the G7 meeting in an attempt to engage with countries that will be pivotal in determining China’s future role in global order.
As G7 leaders arrive in Japan, the group is expected to take a strong stance against China's use of trade as a tool to allow them to attack opponents and to threaten Taiwan. Beijing's campaigns using economic leverage against countries such as Japan, South Korea and Australia have won it few friends, however, analysts note that while Hong Kong is likely to be on the G7 agenda, the delegates may be hesitant to put too much pressure on Beijing. The G-7 summit will be followed by the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore where US allies are expected to push Washington to clarify its intentions in the South China Sea, following the US decision to sail a warship close to China's controversial artificial island-building activities and ahead of an international court ruling on China's vast territorial claims in the area. Pompeo is not attending, raising concerns that the machinery of US defence and foreign policy cannot quickly adjust to cope with the changes a Trump administration would bring.
The US, EU and Japan are putting forward a strategy of cooperating with China but adopting a "de-risking" approach to sensitive sectors such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. This stance appears designed to avoid full decoupling with China and maintain economic interests while also protecting national security. The approach is backed by Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and the UK, Japan and the US. However, each country has adopted its own version of the strategy shaped by its exposure to the Chinese economy. The G7 has stressed the need to protect critical technologies and supply chains.
Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has written an opinion piece for The Telegraph in which he emphasised the importance of maintaining the unity of the G7 in the face of a range of geopolitical, environmental, and health challenges. Suga listed issues ranging from the Covid-19 pandemic to climate change, as well as the regional situations involving Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, and called for the G7 nations to take a united, multilateral approach to combat them.
The G7 summit in Hiroshima is particularly important given the current geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and tensions between China and the US. President Biden is keen to coordinate with democratic allies to deal with both issues. Observers will be watching for a convincing show of unity from the G7 on both China and Russia, and to see if that unity extends beyond rhetoric. The American emphasis on the G7, rather than the G20, marks a shift from a period dominated by economics and globalisation to a new era defined by politics and strategic rivalries.
The upcoming G7 meeting in Hiroshima, which aims to provide a “united front” on the Ukraine crisis and growing concerns about China’s global power, reflects a rapidly changing international order, according to the BBC. The summit of the world’s wealthiest democracies, which will start on Friday in the Japanese city, has also this year been extended to include Australia, India, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Comoros (representing the African Union) and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Islands Forum). The new attendees represent the so-called “Global South”, which is keen to stress that there is an alternative to Russia and China. However, gaining support for sanctions to be placed against Moscow will be a challenge as many of the G7’s new guests maintain complex political and economic ties with both Russia and China. A number of the new attendees also depend heavily on Chinese aid and are economically tied to Beijing.
