G7 leaders turn their attention to China on Friday on the second day of an Italy summit, with a focus on how to protect their industries while avoiding an outright trade war with Beijing.
Fair trade with the world’s second-largest economy, notably on green technology, will be discussed by US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Britain in Puglia.
The Group of Seven rich democracies will also be seeking a common response to China’s alleged support of Russia’s military expansion, which Washington says is fuelling the war in Ukraine.
“G7 countries are on the same page vis-a-vis China,” a Japanese government source told AFP.
The meeting comes amid souring trade relations between China and the West, exemplified by the European Union’s announcement this week of plans to impose new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
The US, Japan and the European Union — which attends G7 summits as an unofficial eighth partner — have all voiced concern over China’s so-called “industrial overcapacity”.
They say generous subsidies by Beijing, particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles, result in unfairly cheap goods flooding the global market.
That excess capacity threatens Western companies struggling to compete, particularly in the growing green tech sector.
“We will confront China’s non-market policies that are leading to harmful global spillovers,” John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, told journalists ahead of the summit.
China has dismissed the concerns, but Washington is pressing for a united G7 front.
The group’s finance ministers warned last month that they would weigh steps to “ensure a level playing field” for all countries.
– Export curbs –
On the eve of the summit at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort, the EU threatened to hit imports of Chinese electric vehicles with tariffs of up to 38 percent beginning next month.
Beijing denounced what it called “naked protectionist behaviour” and said it reserved the right to file a suit with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The United States hiked tariffs last month on Chinese green tech imports, including a 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles, with Biden blasting “cheating” on Beijing’s part.
Another focus Friday is China’s recent restrictions on exports of minerals such as gallium, germanium and graphite, which are critical in industries such as telecommunications and electric vehicles.
The curbs threaten international supply chains, and there are fears they could be followed by restrictions on other materials such as rare earth elements needed in electronics.
Analysts warn of near-term supply shortages and higher prices if China were to further restrict exports, even as the United States and other countries seek to diversify their supplies, including by boosting domestic production.
– ‘Russia’s war machine’ –
Security and defence concerns are also being addressed at the summit, including accusations Beijing has helped expand Russia’s armed forces.
During a press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, Biden said the G7 had “agreed to taking collective action” against China’s role in supplying Russia with “materials they need for their war machine”.
Washington has accused Beijing of helping Russia’s defence industry — and therefore its invasion of Ukraine — through joint production of drones and exports of machine tools needed for ballistic missiles.
Zelensky said he had spoken by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who “gave me his word” that he would not sell weapons to Russia.
“We will see,” Zelensky added.
G7 leaders will also address security in the Asia-Pacific, where China’s confrontational tactics and militarisation of islands in the South China Sea — as well as its recent war games around self-ruled Taiwan — have increased fears of a potential conflict.
At the last G7 summit, in Japan, the leaders said in their final statement that they “oppose China’s militarisation activities in the region”.
The Japanese government source said it was crucial for the leaders meeting in Puglia to send a clear message to Xi that the issue was not merely regional, but of concern to all the G7 nations.
“All the (G7) countries are aware that we need to convey the message very candidly to the Chinese at the very top level,” the source said.
AFP
Portugal’s Economy Minister, Manuel Castro Almeida, says Cristiano Ronaldo matters to Portugal in ways that reach far beyond football. “Many people know Portugal only because of Cristiano Ronaldo,” he stressed.
His comments land as the fallout from Ronaldo’s sudden exit from the national team camp continues to dominate the headlines.
Speaking in remarks carried by the Portuguese website The Resident from the Now channel, the minister painted Ronaldo as a huge asset for Portugal’s image on the world stage. “Cristiano Ronaldo has an enormous impact in promoting and highlighting Portugal’s image,” he said. He went further still, likening the Portugal star to “the most famous company in Portugal”
On the row between Ronaldo and coach Jorge Jesus, Castro Almeida pleaded ignorance. He insisted he was “not an expert” and refused to judge who was in the right.
His focus stayed on Ronaldo’s wider worth to Portugal and its standing abroad.
That global recognition, the Economy Minister argues, makes Ronaldo “a value and an asset” to the country. “It would be good if Portugal could continue to rely on this asset,” he said.
He added: “From the angle of enhancing Portugal’s image and reputation, Cristiano holds extremely important value, and it would be very good for Portugal to continue to benefit from this potential.”
A woman accused of spying for China on Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s son and his family was arrested Sunday in the United States, US and Taiwanese officials said.
Wanying Zhang, 34, was detained by the FBI at Los Angeles airport “attempting to depart for China”, First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in an X post.
Zhang is accused of acting as an unregistered agent of China and spying on a “close relative of a Taiwanese government official” in the United States, Essayli said.
The woman allegedly surveilled Lai’s “son and his family — filming their home, vehicles, and reporting information back to (People’s Republic of China) handlers”, the FBI said on its rapid response account on X.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the island.
Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, acting at the direction of Chinese officials, sent “photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials”, Essayli said.
FBI Director Kash Patel cheered the arrest in an X post, warning foreign adversaries that “America is no longer a safe place to run your espionage operations.”
“Allegedly surveil a foreign leader’s family on US soil for the PRC — and try to catch a flight back to Shanghai? Not happening,” Patel said.
Lai, who was elected president in January 2024, has been an outspoken defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty and is detested by Chinese leaders.
Lai’s office condemned the “barbaric acts”, which it confirmed had targeted the president’s family, and said it was a case of “transnational repression.”
“Such behavior should not be tolerated in the civilized world,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo said in a statement, thanking US judicial authorities for “their assistance and protection of our citizens.”
Taiwan’s government has warned Taiwanese people of growing risks to their safety in China and elsewhere after Beijing’s ethnic unity law took effect in July.
The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups.
But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, like Uyghurs and Tibetans, that Beijing is accused of persecuting.
They also point to a clause stating that people can be held liable for violating the law even when outside China, saying it gives the Chinese government more justification for targeting its opponents abroad.
Zhang, who resides in Irvine, California, “coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection,” Essayli said.
Zhang is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court on Monday.
Lessons were suspended at hundreds of French high schools on Monday, as part of a wave of student protest over learning conditions that have rocked the European nation.
Students trickled into some schools despite ongoing protests outside their gates, ahead of a day of larger demonstrations expected on Tuesday.
Since late September, pupils have barred the entrances to their schools, complaining of teacher absences, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings ill-adapted to rising temperatures, among other grievances.
The government has sought to address the grievances, while accusing hard-left activists of having hijacked the protest movement.
Up to 500 out of France’s 3,700 high schools, known as lycees, were expected to be partially or totally closed on Monday, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said late Sunday.
A third of the 468 lycees for teenagers aged 15 to 17 were to be closed in the Paris region, authorities said.
In the capital’s central third district on Monday morning, dozens of teenage students chanted in protest, as cars honked their horns in support while driving past, while others made their way into class.
“No means, no silence,” read one cardboard sign outside the Turgot high school.
“We’re missing our lessons to give you one,” read another.
In the western city of Rennes, more than 20 pupils gathered outside the Montaigne lycee, one clutching a sign that read “Not enough teachers”, but staff allowed other students into their classrooms.
In the northern city of Lille, masked protesters destroyed bus shelters or set fire to dustbins, as police fired teargas towards several hundred demonstrators.
The movement started on September 17 at a high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil, in support of teachers striking over a lack of staff and resources.
It gained momentum and spread across France, at times spiralling into vandalism, including the destruction of bus shelters, the burning of school entrances and clashes between protesters and security forces.
Since the start of the movement, 24 schools had been “burned or ransacked”, according to the education minister.
More than 5,000 people, 85 percent of them minors, have been arrested.
Protesters have also accused the police of using disproportionate force, and internal investigations have been opened into at least three instances of alleged police brutality.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu set out a timetable on Sunday urging local authorities to prioritise filling gaps left by long-term teacher absences and unfilled posts.
He called a meeting for Tuesday with regional presidents to discuss overhauling the country’s often-dilapidated school buildings.
The government is also hoping to pass through parliament a bill to make those who are responsible for damaging public property pay for repairs themselves, instead of drawing from taxpayer money.
Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon defended the bill.
“When you have 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds who, at 9 am, are burning bus shelters or — perhaps even more seriously — the high school where they study, that raises the question of parental responsibility,” she told Europe1/Cnews broadcaster.
Lecornu has said the draft law, first presented before the protests, would allow these sums to be “taken from family allowances and housing benefits, while ensuring a minimum income is preserved”.
The head of the main CGT labour union, Sophie Binet, slammed what she called a “populist announcement”, which she said would “end up targeting the most vulnerable families”.
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