2023 G7

Multilateralism

G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué
We, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), met in Hiroshima for our annual Summit on May 19-21, 2023, more united than ever in our determination to meet the global challenges of this moment and set the course for a better future. Our work is rooted in respect for the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and international partnership.
We are taking concrete steps to:
support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression;
strengthen disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, towards the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all;
coordinate our approach to economic resilience and economic security that is based on diversifying and deepening partnerships and de-risking, not de-coupling;
drive the transition to clean energy economies of the future through cooperation within and beyond the G7;
launch the Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security with partner countries to address needs today and into the future; and
deliver our goal of mobilizing $600 billion in financing for quality infrastructure through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII)
Colin Robertson: Out of Hiroshima: Takeaways from the 2023 G7
The G7 leaders met this past weekend in Hiroshima and, in an impressive demonstration of solidarity, agreed to a common approach to tackling Russia, China, economic security and many other significant challenges of our day.
(Policy) The G7 Communiqué runs to just over 19,000 words with accompanying statements lifting that word count to 30,000. As with all summit communiqués, mostly assembled over months in advance, it is a dauntingly dense and often turgid read. But what comes through is the policy discussions, deep and comprehensive, covering the waterfront of issues. This is practical multilateralism at work for shared purpose among the democracies. …
With a rotating chair (Italy will host next year and Canada will host in 2025), its revolving bureaucratic structure can be uneven but it works. After 49 summits (the G7 did not meet in 2020) there is continuity and follow-through in managing shared issues. Given their collective weight, when the G7 reaches a consensus, their decisions influence global direction.
As if to illustrate the alternative, while the G7 met in Hiroshima, the 22-nation Arab League was counter-programming with the authoritarian spectacle of re-admitted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad being greeted by his Saudi host, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, with a warm embrace. Meanwhile, in Xian, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of five Central Asian nations, underlining Beijing’s growing influence in the region. China is already their largest trading partner and they are all participants in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the massive infrastructure plan launched in 2013 that has expanded China’s economic and political influence, fuelled the decline of democracy in participating countries and prompted the aforementioned references to economic coercion.
G-7 sticks & carrots for China
(GZERO media) The G-7 on Sunday wrapped up its annual summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima by telling China something along the lines of: “Hey, our relationship is pretty toxic, but we can’t afford to break up just yet. So we’re gonna make a bit of a fuss until you play nice.”
In a joint communiqué, the world’s richest democracies urged Beijing to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine and respect the status quo over Taiwan. More importantly, in a separate statement, the G-7 also called out China’s economic coercion practices — albeit without explicitly mentioning China.
The thinly veiled jab was not lost on the Chinese, who officially complained to host Japan and the UK over the rhetoric. On Monday, an editorial in the Global Times, a state-backed mouthpiece, blasted the G-7 as an “anti-China talk shop.”

19-21 May
G7 takes stand against China’s “economic coercion”
(BBC) As the G7 leaders sent a strong message to Russia by inviting Volodymyr Zelensky to Hiroshima, another rival was also on their minds – China.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said China posed “the greatest challenge of our age” in regards to global security and prosperity, and that it was “increasingly authoritarian at home and abroad”.
And in not one but two statements, the leaders of the world’s richest democracies made clear to Beijing their stance on divisive issues such as the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan. But the most important part of their message centred on what they called “economic coercion”.
It’s a tricky balancing act for the G7. Through trade their economies have become inextricably dependent on China, but competition with Beijing has increased and they disagree on many issues including human rights.
…it is unsurprising that the G7 would condemn what they see as a “disturbing rise” of the “weaponisation of economic vulnerabilities”.
This coercion, they said, seeks to “undermine the foreign and domestic policies and positions of G7 members as well as partners around the world”.
They called for “de-risking”- a policy that Ms von der Leyen, who is attending the summit, has championed. This is a more moderate version of the US’ idea of “decoupling” from China, where they would talk tougher in diplomacy, diversify trade sources, and protect trade and technology.
They have also launched a “coordination platform” to counter the coercion and work with emerging economies. While it’s still vague on how this would work exactly, we’re likely to see countries helping each other out by increasing trade or funding to work around any blockages put up by China.
The G7 also plans to strengthen supply chains for important goods such as minerals and semiconductors, and beef up digital infrastructure to prevent hacking and stealing of technology.
But the biggest stick they plan to wield is multilateral export controls. This means working together to ensure their technologies, particularly those used in military and intelligence, don’t end up in the hands of “malicious actors” .

Jeremy Kinsman: Zelinsky makes it an epic summit
Jeremy’s positive views on the G7 summit including the impact of PM Zelensky’s presence on the aid package for Ukraine, the effort to develop constructive relations with China, and the focus on concerns of the global south re climate change, financial burdens of addressing climate change, health issues and debt.
A tour de force.

Zelensky dominates summit as G7 leaders call out China
Now that he is here, Mr Zelensky’s presence not only adds a zing to the placid diplomatic proceedings, it overshadows them.
(BBC) Volodymyr Zelensky made a scene-stealing arrival at the G7 summit in Japan on Saturday, as world leaders issued a veiled warning to China.
The Ukrainian president arrived in Hiroshima on a French government plane, after a stopover in Saudi Arabia.
His hastily-organised visit prompted G7 leaders to issue a statement early, in which they condemned Russia.
They also warned against “economic coercion”, which Beijing is accused of using against several countries.
This year’s gathering of the world’s richest democracies saw them extending invitations to several emerging economies in the so-called Global South, as well as India and Australia.
Top of the agenda is the Ukraine war, and Mr Zelensky’s last-minute appearance has added heft and urgency to discussions – as well as star power.
Zelensky makes dramatic G-7 visit as Biden mobilizes allies over China
Leaders focus on confronting Russia and countering China’s economic rise

Side-event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment at G7 Hiroshima Summit
On May 20, from 5:40 p.m. to 6:23 p.m., Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, together with the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States of America, and H. E. Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, hosted a side-event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) on the sidelines of the G7 Hiroshima Summit. The side-event was attended by G7 leaders (Canada, Germany, Italy), representatives of the countries invited to the G7 Summit (Indonesia, Comoros, Cock Islands, Vietnam, Republic of Korea, India and Australia), and participants from the private sector, and the President of the World Bank. The participants from the private sector included Mr. KOKUBU Fumiya, Chairman of the Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc., Ms. Jane Fraser, Chief Executive Officer, Citi, Mr. Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia, and Mr. Adebayo Ogunlesi, Founding Partner, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Global Infrastructure Partners.
At the side event, G7 expressed their intention to mobilize private capital for infrastructure investment in partner countries, in collaboration with a wide range of actors. Prime Minister Kishida explained the initiatives of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and the projects that Japan has undertaken under the Partnership. He also stated that Japan is delivering infrastructure investment around the world including Asia, Africa and the Pacific to mobilize more than 65 billion USD in infrastructure assistance and private capital over the five years and that Japan will work to further promote quality infrastructure investment.

To Counter China, G7 Countries Borrow Its Economic Playbook
Wealthy democracies rev up an effort to spend trillions on a new climate-friendly energy economy, while stealing away some of China’s manufacturing power.
(NYT) As Mr. Biden and fellow leaders of the Group of 7 nations meet this weekend in Hiroshima, Japan, a centerpiece of their discussions will be how to rapidly accelerate what has become an internationally coordinated round of vast public investment. For these wealthy democracies, the goal is both to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing and to help their own companies compete in a new energy economy.
Mr. Biden’s legislative agenda, including bills focused on semiconductors, infrastructure and low-emission energy sources, has begun to spur what could be trillions of dollars in government and private investment in American industrial capacity. That includes subsidies for electric vehicles, batteries, wind farms, solar plants and much more

May 19-21, 2023
Issues to be addressed at the G7 Hiroshima Summit
Two Perspectives
Upholding the international order based on the rule of law: Demonstrating G7’s strong determination to uphold the international order based on the rule of law, firmly rejecting any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or the threat to use nuclear weapons, as Russia has done, or the use of nuclear weapons.
Outreach to the Global South: Strengthening outreach to the Global South, by demonstrating G7’s contributions to the issues of their concern.
Toward a Successful G7 Hiroshima Summit, For a Better Future for Japan and the World
KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister
In 2023, Japan assumes the G7 Presidency. Throughout the year, more than 10 Ministerial Meetings will take place in Japan, from Sapporo in the north to Miyazaki in the south, attended by many government officials, the media, and others from around the world.
From May 19 to 21, the G7 Summit will be held in Hiroshima, my hometown. Hiroshima is a beautiful city surrounded by the lush green Chugoku Mountains, facing the calm Seto Inland Sea. I truly look forward to welcoming the G7 Leaders to Hiroshima. At the same time, as the world’s attention turns to Japan this year, it will be a great opportunity to show the world the charms of our country, from beautiful landscapes, traditional culture and local foods to cutting-edge technology.

18 May
G-7 Hiroshima summit: Who’s attending, what will be discussed?
(AP) — Leaders of seven of the world’s most powerful democracies will gather this weekend for the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, the location of the world’s first atomic attack at the end of World War II.
From the emergence of crucial developing countries to security worries, including growing aggression from China, North Korea and Russia, here’s a look at the G-7, who will attend and some of the key issues:
The leaders discuss a wide range of issues, including economic policy, security, climate change, energy and gender.
This year, the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam are invited, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stresses the importance of reaching out to developing countries in the so-called Global South and U.S. allies and partners.
Leaders of the United Nations, the International Energy Agency, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization are also invited.
Ukraine and China Will Dominate G7 Summit, but a New Threat Lurks: A.I.
The leaders are expected to hold their first talks on a common regulatory approach to generative artificial intelligence.
(NYT) …at some point over three days of discussions, the G7 leaders are also expected to venture into new territory: the first conversations among the world’s largest democratic economies about a common approach to regulating the use of generative artificial intelligence programs like GPT-4.
Artificial intelligence was not on the early agenda … But as the new artificial intelligence language model from OpenAI made nations around the world focus for the first time on the possibilities for disinformation, chaos and the physical destruction of critical infrastructure, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, began calling counterparts to seek a common discussion.

15 May
G-7 Plus Wooing the Global South
The Group of Seven advanced economies will hold its annual summit starting Friday in Hiroshima, Japan. But it won’t just be seven leaders showing up. Five nations that are members of the bigger G-20 will also be coming: Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Korea.
(Bloomberg) Note who’s missing in that list — Russia and China, which are locked in geostrategic competition with the US and its allies. Another one showing up this week: Vietnam, an up-and-comer seen as an alternative production site to China.
This practice of inviting extra participants has appeared in part because of geopolitical changes that make some groupings unproductive for some of the objectives of key members.
In a departure from protocol, representatives from the so-called Global South such as Indonesia and India were invited to the gathering of finance ministers and central bank chiefs that wrapped up in Niigata on Saturday. Their statement condemned Russia for its “illegal war against Ukraine” and set up a new supply chain initiative to reduce dependence on China.
Both the G-7 and G-20 were born out of crises. The smaller grouping emerged in the 1970s, when industrial nations were looking to navigate the volatility caused by the end of fixedexchange-rate regimes, oil-price spikes and rising unemployment.
The G-20 was conceived in the late 1990s to group advanced and emerging markets together, amid the Asian financial crisis. Also in the late 1990s, the G-7 invited Russia, becoming the G-8.
That was an era when policymakers in the West believed that rapid globalization would bring to the likes of China and Russia not just economic development, but also an evolution in their political systems. Russia indeed had some semblance of democracy. But Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping killed off that starry-eyed optimism years ago.
The G-20 is still going, and — as Kristalina Georgieva observed about the International Monetary Fund that she leads — it is useful because it’s a forum where the US and China can still engage, at a time when bilateral contacts are limited.
But that still left a gap for regular engagement of the top advanced economies with major emerging markets that aren’t aligned with China. Hence the Hiroshima G-7 “plus invites” summit.

12 May
G-7 talks focus on ways to fortify banks, supply chains as China accuses group of hypocrisy
(AP) — Bank runs, cyber security and building more reliable supply chains to ensure economic security were among items on the agenda of closed-door financial talks Friday in Japan by the Group of Seven advanced economies.
Tensions with China, and with Russia over its war on Ukraine, loomed large on the wide horizon of issues the G-7 is tackling this year in Japan, its only Asian member.
But while G-7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs discussed ways to protect the international rules-based order and prevent what they are calling “economic coercion” by China, Beijing lashed back, accusing the club of wealthy nations of hypocrisy.

30 April – 9 May
G7 Digital Ministers Preview Summit’s Focus on Tech Competition With China
The G-7 digital and tech ministers’ gathering in Takasaki, Japan, offers hints as to the group’s priorities.
(The Diplomat) The leaders of the G-7 nations and the European Union gather in Hiroshima, Japan, starting on May 19. But their summit is being preceded by a series of ministerial meetings in various picturesque cities in Japan to lay the groundwork on a number of important topical issues. As the current cold war atmosphere between the U.S.-led Western allies and China centers around technology competition, the G-7 digital and tech ministers’ gathering in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in late April took on special importance.
With relatively little fanfare, a Ministerial Declaration was issued with six sections, identifying the areas where these leading Western democratic nations are focusing their efforts as they try to sustain technological leadership. That leadership is widely considered to be under threat from global geopolitical tensions and in particular, competition from China.
Ministerial Declaration: The G7 Digital and Tech Ministers’ Meeting

18 April
G7 Japan 2023 Foreign Ministers’ Communiqué
We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States of America (U.S.), and the High Representative of the European Union, underline our strong sense of unity as the world navigates grave threats to the international system, including Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine. We reaffirm our commitment to collective action to address global challenges, including climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, health, and food and energy security, and to uphold and reinforce the free and open international order based on the rule of law, respecting the United Nations (UN) Charter. We will continue to work with our partners to promote open, transparent, resilient, and sustainable societies that champion human rights, justice, and dignity, and address the needs of the most vulnerable. We reaffirm our intention to promote human security and continue building a global community that leaves no one behind. We call on all partners to join us in addressing these pressing global challenges and to work together to build a better, more prosperous, and more secure future.