G7 leaders accuse China of "enabling" Russian war in Ukraine

The leaders of Group of Seven (G7) in a hardening of tone against Beijing, warned China to stop sending weapons components to Russia and to play by the rules on trade, according to a draft G7 Summit statement.

As the annual Group of Seven (G7) Summit was about to end, the G7 leaders on Friday warned that China's support for Russia is "enabling" its war in Ukraine and threatened sanctions against actors that are materially supporting Moscow's war machine, reported CNN.

In a stark warning issued at the end of the G7 Summit in Italy, the leaders stated that Beijing's ongoing support for Russia's defence industrial base is enabling Russia to keep up its war against Ukraine.

This comes as the United States is stepping up diplomatic efforts to convince Europe to adopt a tougher stance on China over its role in aiding Russia's military-industrial complex, as reported by Al Jazeera.

"China's ongoing support for Russia's defense industrial base is enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and has significant and broad-based security implications," the G7 leaders said in the communique on Friday.

"We call on China to cease the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, that are inputs for Russia's defense sector," they added.

The leaders also threatened further actions, including sanctions, to punish Chinese entities that they say are helping Russia circumvent Western embargoes.

"We will continue taking measures against actors in China and third countries that materially support Russia's war machine, including financial institutions, consistent with our legal systems, and other entities in China that facilitate Russia's acquisition of items for its defense industrial base," the joint statement read.

It further vowed to impose "restrictive measures to prevent abuse and restrict access to our financial systems."

Earlier in the past also, American officials have accused China of helping Russia expand military manufacturing, including through exports like semiconductors, materials and machine tools they say are enabling Moscow to ramp up production of tanks, munitions and armoured vehicles, Al Jazeera reported.

However, Beijing refuted the allegation, saying that it has not provided weapons to either side and maintains tight export controls on dual-use goods.

The US and European Union have already slapped sanctions on Chinese companies.

Notably, this week also, the US imposed fresh sanctions on China-based firms supplying semiconductors to Russia.

"China does not supply weapons, but the ability to produce those weapons and the technology available to do it," US President Joe Biden said at the summit on Thursday.

"So it is helping Russia," he said.

Moreover, the G7 also took a tougher stance on China's economic policies, especially on the issue of industrial overcapacity, and vowed to take action against "unfair practices" to "level the playing field and remedy ongoing harm."

"We express our concerns about China's persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing range of sectors, undermining our workers, industries, and economic resilience and security," the joint communique said.

Meanwhile, on the eve of G7 Summit, the EU announced additional tariffs on electric vehicles (EV) imported from China following a months-long investigation, over what it sees as Beijing's unfair support for companies that undercut European carmakers, Al Jazeera reported.

Last month, the US also imposed new tariffs on USD 18 billion in Chinese imports across various sectors deemed strategic to national security, including EVs and clean-energy products.

Additionally, the G7 also voiced strong opposition to what it says are China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China Seas.

"We continue opposing China's dangerous use of coastguards and maritime militias in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries' freedom of navigation in the high seas," the joint statement said.

"We express serious concern about the increasing use of dangerous manoeuvres and water cannons against Philippine vessels," it added.

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