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Cross-strait stability on agenda at G7 foreign ministers' meeting: U.S.

ROC Central News Agency

11/02/2022 01:54 PM

Washington, Nov. 1 (CNA) A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations to be held in Germany this week will include discussion on maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait, a U.S. State Department official said Tuesday.

The meeting, which will take place on Thursday and Friday in the western German city of Münster, is expected to focus on sustaining support for Ukraine and easing the food and energy crises caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as on "economic and democratic resilience" in Africa and the Indo-Pacific.

During a telephone briefing on Tuesday, Howard Solomon, acting deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of European and Asian Affairs, was asked about German Chancellor Olaf Schulz's plans to travel to China on Friday as the meeting is taking place.

More specifically, he was asked whether Germany's recent decision to allow a Chinese firm to acquire a stake in Hamburg's port matched "the expectations of a strategic partner" of the U.S.

According to Bloomberg, the German government agreed last week to sell a stake of less than 25 percent in one of Hamburg's port terminals to China's Cosco Shipping Holdings Co.

The 25-percent cap was lower than the 35 percent favored by Scholz, a position that put him at odds with members of his own cabinet and Germany's security services, the news outlet reported.

In response, Solomon said the U.S. had "a very robust" discussion with its German counterparts but avoided addressing the question in detail.

He said that in general, however, there was "a growing convergence of views" between the U.S. and its partners on how to approach relations with Beijing, both in terms of the challenges presented and the possible opportunities.

"I think we've recognized that there is a need to coordinate on issues (such as) stability in terms of cross-strait tensions, and looking with concern at some of the statements that came out from the recent 20th party congress on Taiwan," Solomon said.

Regarding China, the U.S. also works closely with Germany and other partners on issues such as fair-trade practices, the protection of intellectual property, and human rights concerns in Xinjiang and Tibet, he added.

The G7 group consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, while the European Union participates as a "non-enumerated member."

(By Chiang Chin-yeh and Matthew Mazzetta)

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