Japan Faces Difficulty Coordinating G-7 Response to Hong Kong Issue

Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)--Japan is facing difficulty persuading the Group of Seven major countries to issue a joint statement calling on China to maintain its “one country, two systems” principle for Hong Kong.

This is because European members of the G-7 are strongly opposed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s hardline stance against China.

On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his determination to lead the G-7 to issuing a joint statement on Hong Kong.

The Japanese government believes that it is “important for the G-7, whose members share basic values including freedom and the rule of law, to come up with a statement against China,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said.

Following China’s decision late last month to impose a security law on Hong Kong, the United States released a joint statement with Britain, Canada and Australia, as it was frustrated to see the G-7 remain uncoordinated on the matter, according to Japanese government sources.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]