At the G7 summit held in Cornwall – Britain, Australia exposed Chinese barbarity and belligerence at a level not done by any country ever before. Leading the anti-China crusade at G7 was Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who produced crucial documents before the heads of some of the richest and most powerful democracies in the world. The G7 leaders – comprising of the heads of states from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Germany and Italy are said to have been “shocked and appalled” by the revelations made by Australian Prime Minister Morrison. As a consequence, the G7 communique after the summit was aimed squarely against China and its totalitarianism.
On June 13, during a session dubbed ‘Open Societies’, Morrison tabled a dossier that Chinese diplomats had handed to Nine News reporter Jonathan Kearsley at a meeting inside Canberra’s Hyatt Hotel last November. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the document listed 14 grievances Beijing had with Australia, including restrictions on foreign investment decisions based on national security grounds, government funding for think tanks critical of China, and unfriendly reporting by Australian media.
The document showed how China has been threatening, bullying and harassing Australia for Canberra standing up to Beijing’s anti-democratic shenanigans. China, in the document, accused Australia of “incessant wanton interference in China’s Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan affairs, apart from spearheading a crusade against China at certain multilateral forums.” China also alleged that Australia had been acting at the behest of the United States.
“There is not a country that would sit around that table that would seek a concession on any of those 14 points as something they also would tolerate,” Morrison said after the meeting. The message which Australia intended to convey to the G7 member nations was received lock, stock and barrel. The US and UK were already on Australia’s side. With Morrison tabling the Chinese dossier, however, Australia managed to get all G7 countries onboard. The criminal intimidation of China was exposed like never before, and even European countries agreed that China has emerged as a formidable threat.
According to Sky News, French President Emmanuel Macron went back to his cabinet and said the list of ‘grievances’ which China sent Australia were ridiculous. Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Macron blasted China for economic coercion against Canberra. The French President announced that Paris rejects “any coercive measures taken against Australia”. He described Chinese actions as a “flagrant violation of international law”. The French President also said, “I would like to reiterate how committed France remains to defending the balance in the Indo-Pacific region and how much we consider the partnership we have with Australia to be at the heart of this Indo-Pacific strategy.”
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, after the meeting said China is “an autocracy that does not adhere to multilateral rules and does not share the same vision of the world that the democracies have.”
Germany has also joined the effort to fight back China’s increasing belligerence. Britain, France and Germany have committed to sending warships, submarines and aircraft carriers to the South China Sea this year. They will join in efforts to militarily tackle Chinese misadventures alongside Australia and Japan.
Australia – led by PM Scott Morrison has effectively convinced the democratic world that China does not merely pose a threat to a free and open Indo Pacific, but also poses a real time danger to the entire free world order. While China has been waging an economic and military war in the Indo Pacific, countries around the world need to realise even if they do not presently face a military challenge from China, the paper dragon is nevertheless involved in economic coercion in most countries.
The G7 has understood this very well, which is why at the end of the summit in Cornwall – the seven democracies rebuked Beijing for human rights abuses, its assault on Hong Kong and “non-market practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy”. The G7 also called for peace across the Taiwan Strait – in a landmark declaration of support for Taiwan. In it all, Australia played an instrumental role in ensuring that China is named and shamed by the bloc of powerful countries, despite not being an official member of the G7 itself.
