People protest against the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in a street of Hiroshima, Japan, on May 14. (Photo from Xinhua News Agency)
5月14日，在日本广岛街头，日本民众强烈抗议七国集团（G7）峰会将在广岛召开。（图源：新华社）
By Chen Yang
陈洋
The Group of Seven (G7) summit is to be held in Hiroshima, Japan from May 19 to 21 as scheduled. On the eve of the summit, many Japanese people held up banners reading "No War Accomplices" and "No G7" to express their protests against the G7 summit in the streets of Hiroshima. The summit has not yet begun, and protests have already hiked. Such an awkward situation deserves conscientious reflection from the G7.
七国集团（G7）峰会将于5月19日至21日在日本广岛举行。就在峰会召开前夕，不少日本民众在广岛街头举着“不做战争帮凶”“不要G7”等标语表达对G7峰会的抗议。峰会还未开，抗议声已起，这样的尴尬境地值得G7好好反思。
As the rotating presidency of the G7 this year, Japan plays a leading part in formulating relevant topics for the G7 summit. What will be the outcome of the G7 Hiroshima Summit and what topics will be the focus of discussion among member states? All hinges on the rotating presidency. According to information disclosed by Japanese media, it is easy to see that Japan intends to collude with the US to lead the G7 summit towards the abyss of bloc confrontation.
日本是今年G7轮值主席国，负责主导和制定G7峰会的相关议题。G7广岛峰会开成什么样、各成员国围绕哪些议题进行沟通讨论，与作为轮值主席国的日本有着不小关系，根据日媒披露的信息不难看出，日本有意配合美国将G7峰会朝着集团对抗的“阴沟”里带。
The G7 was originally founded to coordinate the Western macroeconomic policies, but in recent years, the group has played a less prominent part in economic cooperation, but has engaged itself much more in military confrontation. For example, under the instigation of the US and Japan, the G7 leaders' joint statement in 2021 included relevant content on the situation across the Taiwan Strait for the first time. At the upcoming G7 Hiroshima Summit, the topics to be discussed as set by the Japanese side include addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and so-called China's "economic coercion". It is not hard to see that Japan intends to exert pressure on China by means of the power of G7.
G7最初成立的目的是协调西方宏观经济政策，但近年来G7原本的经济合作属性淡化，军事对抗色彩却不断增强。例如，在美日两国鼓动下，2021年的G7领导人联合声明首次写入台海局势相关内容。在即将举行的G7广岛峰会上，日本设定的议题包括应对乌克兰危机、中国“经济胁迫”等。通过这些议题设定不难看出，日本想通过举办G7峰会来夹带“私货”，妄图借G7之力来对中国施压。
At the same time, G7 has brought noticeable challenges and hidden dangers to the region and the international community. On the eve of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, the banner reading "No War Accomplices" held up by the Japanese people just reflects their concerns and unease about the orientation of the G7 in the future. On May 14, a citizen of Hiroshima involved in the protests believed that the G7 Hiroshima Summit would be a meeting to re-escalate the Ukraine crisis. NATO has already provided military support to Ukraine, and Japan also intends to provide monetary or military support to Ukraine. This move cannot bring an end to the war, nor can it achieve peace; instead, it can only lead the world to even worse tragedies.
同时，G7给地区和国际社会带来日益明显的挑战和隐患。日本民众在G7广岛峰会前夕高举“不做战争帮凶”的标语，折射出人们对G7未来定位的担忧与不安。14日参加抗议活动的广岛市民宫原亮就认为，G7广岛峰会将是一个让乌克兰危机再次升级的会议。北约已经对乌克兰进行武力支持了，日本也打算向乌克兰提供金钱或军事支持。“这不能让战争结束，也不可能实现和平，只能让世界陷入更悲惨的境地。”
G7 should not be an accomplice to war, nor should it be an accomplice to economic coercion. According to a report by the Financial Times, the US and Japan intend to make "economic security" one of the main topics at the upcoming G7 Summit. Obviously, the US is the main driver of hyping up the topic of "economic coercion", while Japan, with its selfish intentions, is ready to cater to the US. In fact, when it comes to the initiator of economic coercion, the US is the most suitable. Even members of the G7 have experienced economic coercion from the US. In the 1980s, the US forced Japan to sign the Plaza Accord, and in 2022, the US government passed the Inflation Reduction Act featuring strong unilateralism and protectionism, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from France, Germany and other countries. Enterprises from G7 member states such as Toshiba of Japan, Siemens of Germany, and Alstom of France all have been ruthlessly suppressed by the US.
G7不应做“战争帮凶”，也不应做“经济胁迫”的帮凶。英国《金融时报》报道说，此次G7峰会美国和日本想将“经济安全”作为主要议题之一。显然，美国是炒作“经济胁迫”话题的主要推手，而怀有私心的日本趁势“贴心”地递上了“刀子”。事实上，要说“经济胁迫”这顶“帽子”，美国自己戴最合适。G7很多成员都曾遭遇美国的“经济胁迫”：上世纪80年代，美国强迫日本签署《广场协议》，2022年美国政府通过带有强烈单边主义和保护主义色彩的《通胀削减法案》，引发法国、德国等国强烈不满。日本东芝、德国西门子、法国阿尔斯通等G7成员国企业，无一例外都曾遭到美国的无情打压。
If G7 member states are truly concerned about economic security, they should join hands in pressuring the US to immediately stop using national security as a pretext to suppress and contain other countries, and stop indiscriminate unilateral bullying, stop coercing its allies into forming exclusive small circles, stop disrupting the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, and stop dividing the world into two major markets and two systems. Joseph Stiglitz, a renowned American economist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, believed that the hostile US policy on China is likely to split the world into two blocs, and urged the West to offer investment to developing countries instead of preaching. It's high time for the G7 members to make a decision. Should they continue to blindly follow the US in creating small circles or proactively work together with the international community to promote peace and development? As members of the 'Rich Country Club', the G7 should not focus on the interests of a few countries and harm the interests of the vast majority of the international community. Instead, it should adapt to the trend of an open and inclusive era and deliberate how to do tangible things that are conducive to world peace, stability and development.
如果G7国家真正关注经济安全的话，就应该携手向美国施压，要求美国立即停止以国家安全为名行打压、遏制他国之实，停止滥施单边霸凌行径，停止胁迫盟友搞排他性小圈子，停止扰乱全球产业链供应链安全稳定，停止将世界分裂成两大市场、两套体系。美国知名经济学家、诺贝尔经济学奖得主约瑟夫·斯蒂格利茨认为，美国的对华“敌对”政策或使世界分裂成两个集团，他敦促西方国家向发展中国家提供投资，而不是“说教”。G7如何定位自身，又如何面向未来，究竟是继续盲目跟着美国搞“小圈子”，还是积极与国际社会携手，共促和平、共促发展，G7成员国应该作出决断。身为“富国俱乐部”成员，G7不能只从少数国家利益出发，损害国际社会绝大多数国家的利益，而应顺应开放包容的时代大势，多想想如何为世界的和平、稳定与发展做些实实在在的好事。
Editor's note: Originally published on haiwainet.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
