The leaders of the Group of Seven advanced industrial countries are expressing concern over China’s increasingly assertive activity in the East and South China seas, renewing their warnings against one-sided attempts to change the situation, and emphasizing the importance of resolving territorial disputes peacefully.
In a declaration wrapping up their annual summit, the G-7 leaders called for regional and international cooperation on preserving freedom of navigation in the regional seas and cooperating to use the ocean in a sustainable way.
China’s increasingly assertive maritime presence in those waters is viewed as a looming risk for possible conflict.
The construction of islands on land reclaimed in the South China Sea was not formally on the G-7 agenda but officials indicated it was a concern.
