As the Group of Seven (G7) leaders met in London and responded over human-rights abuses in Xinjiang against Uyghur Muslims, the ongoing crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, and also seeking new investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China has taken strong exception to the group by saying that it ‘deliberately slandered’ the country and was indulging in ‘political manipulation’
The G7 summit issued a communiqué criticising China’s actions in Xinjiang province, the overthrow of democracy in Hong Kong, and the threat China often gives to Taiwan. But the topic that stung China the most was the “forced labor” and “unilateral attempts to change the status quo” in the East and South China Seas.
The G7 leaders urged Beijing “to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law”.
The G7 nations also called for “a timely, transparent, expert-led and science-based WHO-convened phase 2 Covid-19 origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China”.
The G7 had earlier unveiled an unprecedented global infrastructure plan called “ to counter Beijing’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt And Road Initiative(BRI) in Asia, Africa and South America.
The Chinese embassy in London in a statement said,” it was strongly dissatisfied with the join statement and resolutely opposed to mentions of Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan that distorted the facts and exposed the “sinister intentions of a few countries such as the United States”.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and global economy sluggish, the international community needs unity and cooperation of all countries rather than “cliquey” power politics sowing division, it added.
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