US President Joe Biden stressed Sunday that leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations are united in their approach to China. “We’re not looking to decouple from China. We’re looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China,” Biden said at a press conference after the close of the three-day G-7 summit in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.
G-7 countries would take steps to diversify their supply chains, and they are not dependent on any one country for necessary product, he said. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the US.
Biden also said the US and China should have an open military hotline, noting that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on it at the Bali conference in November.
But Chinese balloon that was “carrying two freight cars’ worth of spying equipment was flying over the US, and it got shot down, and everything changed in terms of talking to one another,” according to Biden.
However, he said US-China relations will “begin to thaw very shortly,” adding that lifting sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is “under negotiation right now.” As for Taiwan issue, Biden said Washington does not expect Taiwan to independently declare independence either.
“But in the meantime, we’re going to continue to put Taiwan in a position that they can defend themselves. And there is clear understanding among most of our allies that, in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response,” he stressed.
In his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier in the day, Biden said “the US, together with its allies and partners, is going to begin training Ukrainian pilots in fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to strengthen Ukraine’s air force as part of a long-term commitment to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.” He does not expect the F-16s to take part in the existing conflict, but said, “It will take place in the context if they’re successful in the near term, they’re going to then continue to have to fight with the Russians, who have headquarters beyond where they are now not able to be reached by the existing capacity that exists in their arsenal.”
Source: Kuwait News Agency