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China: G7 Should Seek Truth If It Wants to Play Major World Role

  • A child observes a photo of the destruction left behind by the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

    A child observes a photo of the destruction left behind by the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

Published 11 April 2016
Opinion

The G7 meeting of foreign ministers were meant to discuss ending nuclear weapons and anti-terrorism, not the South China Seas dispute.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies said they strongly opposed provocation in the East and South China Seas, where China is locked in territorial disputes with nations including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.

In the latest verbal exchange on who controls the vital trade waterways, China said it had not seen the G7 statement, but that countries in the region were seeking to promote stability and that disputes were being "exaggerated".

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Kerry Will Not Apologize for Atomic Bomb During Hiroshima Visit

"If the G7 wants to continue playing a major role in the world, it should take an attitude of seeking truth from the facts to handle the issues the international community is most concerned with at the moment," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.

"If the G7 is taken hostage by the selfish interests of certain countries, then this probably won't be beneficial to the G7's influence, role and future development."

Earlier on Monday, the G7 foreign ministers said after meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that they opposed "any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions".

On Sunday, in a city obliterated by a U.S. atom bomb more than 70 years ago, Japan kicked off the G7 with a call to end nuclear weapons.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who presides over the two-day annual meeting this year, said that ministers will also discuss anti-terrorism steps, maritime security and issues related to North Korea, Ukraine and the Middle East.

During World War II, a U.S. warplane dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, reducing the city to ashes and killing 140,000 people by the end of that year. Kerry is not expected to apologyze for this tragic bombing.
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