China also summoned Japan’s ambassador to express displeasure at what a senior Chinese diplomat described as “clan confrontation and a Cold War mentality” at the G7 meeting. Japan hosted the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Biden issued a tough communiqué on China after meeting with the leaders of six other democracies, calling for a crackdown on China’s “malicious behavior” such as illegal technology transfers and economic coercion. China’s foreign ministry responded that the United States was to blame for using its economic power to put pressure on other countries.
China also dismissed G7 leaders’ concerns about repression in Xinjiang and Tibet, erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong and possible conflict over Taiwan. Taiwan is an autonomous island claimed by China.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong told Japan’s ambassador to China on Sunday that the G7 “deliberately manipulates China-related issues, smears and attacks China and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs,” according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
Sun Weidong said: “The era when a few countries in the West wantonly interfered in other countries’ internal affairs and manipulated global affairs is gone forever.”
At a news conference closing the G7 summit, Biden blamed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by the United States in February for disrupting communication between the two countries.
“I think you’re going to see a thaw in that situation very soon,” he said.
Biden said on Sunday that the United States was discussing easing sanctions on China’s defense minister, General Li Shangfu. The move could pave the way for talks between military officials from both countries. The United States imposed sanctions on Li Shangfu in 2018 for China’s purchase of Russian weapons.
Chinese officials have said the sanctions are an obstacle to the talks, a point reiterated by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Monday.
Mao Ning said: “China and the United States maintain necessary communication. But if the United States says that it wants to communicate, while suppressing and containing China by all means, and imposes sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and enterprises, what is the sincerity and significance of such communication?”
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other senior officials have been active in diplomacy ahead of China’s response to the G7 communiqué. Since China emerged last fall from the relative isolation imposed by its anti-epidemic measures, Mr. Xi has met with leaders from around the world and brokered a handshake between Saudi Arabia and Iran. One of Beijing’s broader goals, analysts say, is to limit the ability of the United States to woo allies to isolate China.
“China’s focus is on the U.S. and Japan,” said Manoj Kewalramani, a China researcher at the Takshashila Institution, an Indian think tank. “For the Europeans, the Chinese language has been, ‘We support your strategic autonomy.’ China’s intention is basically to mobilize those intermediate forces that they think are likely to waver about which side to support.”
Chinese and U.S. officials have held several talks in recent weeks, including a meeting in Beijing this month between Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, in which Qin Gang rebuked the U.S. for supporting Taiwan.
Burns also held talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. In addition, the Biden administration hopes to reschedule Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China, which was postponed due to the balloon incident.
Wang Wentao is expected to travel to Detroit for a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, according to The Wall Street Journal, but top Chinese leaders are still considering whether he should also Meet with counterpart officials in Washington.
“There’s a sense of a thaw, where there’s more conversations, going from no conversations to having conversations,” Kewalramani said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re going to solve some tough issues.”
The G7 communiqué stated that members would not “decouple or shut down”, but also acknowledged that “economic resilience requires de-risking”.
The business environment facing foreign companies in China has grown increasingly fraught in recent months, with investigations into agencies conducting due diligence and consulting, including some police raids. China has also expanded the coverage of its anti-espionage laws to facilitate such investigations.
On Sunday, the Chinese government banned some of China’s largest companies from buying products from Micron Technology (MU), saying Micron’s products posed “significant security risks.” Micron Technology is the largest memory chip maker in the United States. China’s Cyberspace Administration said the products posed a national security risk to telecommunications infrastructure and warned companies not to use them.
Micron said it was evaluating this conclusion and weighing the company’s next steps, and expressed its hope to continue discussions with relevant Chinese authorities.
But amid all the friction, there are also signs that Chinese officials are trying to address foreign companies’ concerns about the deteriorating business environment.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao chaired a meeting in Shanghai on Monday to hear from U.S. companies doing business in China, a rare move to appease foreign investors.
Wang Wentao said: “Currently, China’s economic operation maintains a recovery momentum and the market potential continues to be released. These will provide more opportunities for companies from all over the world, including US-funded companies, to develop in China.”
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