China and Russia, which weren’t invited to Hiroshima, will cast the biggest shadows during this week’s G7 leaders’ conference.

Officials say the heads of the world’s advanced democracies will need to overcome their difficulties to show unity against Beijing and Moscow at their three-day meeting in western Japan from Friday.
Multiple sources told Reuters that G7 countries are struggling to warn about China’s threat to global supply chains and economic security without upsetting a key trade partner.

The G7 nations—the U.S., Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Canada, and Italy—are economically linked to China, the world’s second-largest economy and a major manufacturing base and market.

Narushige Michishita, a Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) professor, said the summit would focus on the G7’s “great power competition” strategy.
“They have to address economic security and how to deal with sensitive technologies,” Michishita added. “Everything is part of the great power competition that is taking place between the United States and Russia, and the United States and China.”

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing and called for the E.U. to reduce its dependence on the U.S., highlighting their disagreements with China.

Despite calling China “one of the more complex issues” for the summit, a senior U.S. government official told Reuters this week that leaders would unite on China.

The leaders will also discuss “economic coercion” in their joint statement, which would contain a “section specific to China,” according to Reuters.
Senior German government sources expect pronouncements on Ukraine, economic resilience and security, food security, and others.

“I would call this a geopolitical G7, which will tackle a massive security crisis, which is the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” a French presidency official stated.

“It’s also geopolitical because tensions between China and the United States are increasing and we need to express the rules of the game so that we can preserve our international cooperation capacities,” the official said.

India, Vietnam, and other leaders are likely to observe. The G7 wants to work with the “Global South” to oppose China’s worldwide influence.

The language’s directness toward China is unknown. However, some G7 members are wary of China’s investment limitations.

G7 foreign ministers acknowledged “the need to work with China on global challenges.” They urged Beijing to act “as a responsible member of the international community” in April, but neither the climate nor finance chiefs mentioned China in their communique.

Given its substantial trade with Beijing, Germany is more cautious than the U.S. in advocating for stricter investment rules.

Senior German government officials want targeted investment screening, not nationwide. Japan doubts investment controls.