Group of Seven defense chiefs have used their first-ever meeting to target China over its “provocative actions” near Taiwan, following large-scale military exercises around the democratic island last week.
Meeting in Naples, Italy, on Saturday, the defense chiefs agreed in a joint declaration to address a number of security challenges — from Chinese aggression to the war in Ukraine — “in a concrete manner ... at a time in history marked by great instability.”
The defense chiefs singled out China over a number of concerns, though their decision to emphasize Taiwan, in particular, is unlikely to go over well in Beijing. The democratic island is the single most sensitive issue when it comes to relations with Beijing, which views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.