BOSTON (AP) — A watch melted during the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, sold at auction Thursday for more than $31,000.
The watch is frozen in time at the moment of the detonation of the atomic bomb — 8:15 a.m. — during the closing days of World War ll.
Boston-based RR Auction said the small brass-tone watch was recovered from the ruins of the Japanese city and offers a glimpse into the immense destruction of the first atomic bomb detonated over a city.
Other auction items included a signed copy of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s “The Little Red Book,” which sold for $250,000.
What is it to eradicate trauma? Is it to snuff it out altogether by “simply” repressing it, entering a fugue state about it by blotting out certain portions of one’s history altogether? Or is it “rechanneling” it into something—or someone—else? In effect, letting that something or someone else “possess” it for a while. Claim ownership of it…and all merely because you told them the story of your trauma and they, in turn, find something relatable in it. Something tantamount to trauma bonding, but not in the sense that a trauma was shared in the same way, same place or even the same time as another person. Granted, the trauma of World War II was a shared bond between the majority of the world, with almost every country participating in the war without a stance of “neutrality.” But one trauma in particular could never be understood by anyone except those who lived in Hiroshima when it happened. That dropping (a word that makes the act sound so casual) of the bomb on August 6, 1945.
While Alain Renais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour was released in 1959, the film’s writer, Marguerite Duras, states in the treatment for the script that the setting is Hiroshima in the summer of 1957, making it just barely over ten years since the bombing that altered the state of that city (and its people) forever. The film makes it clear that, on the surface of things, it’s easy to forget or brush aside a collective trauma in order to cope, to “move on” (as though one ever actually can). Or, as Don Draper once put it, “This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened.” The governments of the world are certainly in agreement, as markedly evidenced during the immediate period after the war, billed as the “post-war boom.” In other words, a capitalistic wet dream, filled with all the “modern comforts,” advertised at an assault rifle pace via every possible medium (call it “advertising and consumerism as antidote” or “…as agents of denial”). Especially for women who obviously wanted their washing machines and dishwashers and vacuum cleaners to be top-of-the-line. Or their girdles to be as “aerodynamic” as possible. However, “Elle” a.k.a. “Her” in Hiroshima Mon Amour has other pursuits in mind. Namely, participating in a movie “on Peace” in Hiroshima. The irony, of course, is that the movie she’s acting in seeks, ultimately, to recreate the same horrifying images that resulted from the city’s bombing.
Sure, there are staged “protests” filmed (creating that meta movie-within-a-movie effect) to emphasize the “peace” message of it, but there is something exploitative about a movie that would seek to “repurpose” such imagery—even when just presented on protest signs—for what would fall under the category of “entertainment value.” Resnais and Duras clearly want to make this statement in a bid to underscore the “Hollywoodization” of the war. Treating it like spectacle and “story fodder” so soon after it happened. Hell, even while it was happening (see: Casablanca [to be mentioned later], Desperate Journey, Dragon Seed and All Through the Night, among others). Although one might accuse Resnais and Duras of doing the same, their exploration of the effects of war is far more rooted in knowing that they will never actually be able to make any sense of it, or its fallout (literally and figuratively). As Duras puts it in her synopsis, “Impossible to talk about Hiroshima. All one can do is talk about the impossibility of talking about Hiroshima.”
“Lui” a.k.a. “Him” (Eiji Okada) was “spared” from the tragedy of the bombing in that he wasn’t actually there when it happened. Instead, he was fighting “for his country” elsewhere. And the family he was fighting for as well got “lost” to the bombing. Yet, twelve years later, he’s soldiering on. Just as Elle is, despite the horrors she endured during the war, too. Horrors she will tell him of soon after their initial tryst, worn down by his eager interest in her, in addition to his intense desire to possess her…and her trauma. One might even call the pair oddly enraptured, titillated even, by their respective trauma to be able to find romance in a place like Hiroshima. Indeed, Duras noted, “[Their affair]—so banal, so commonplace—takes place in the one city of the world where it is hardest to imagine it.” For it’s true, even now it feels impossible to envision Hiroshima as a place for any kind of love or romance. Not after what happened there. Not after it was so irrevocably tainted. Resnais and Duras work together to accent this absurdity, with the latter insisting that it’s not really important to depict the scene of how and where Elle and Lui met, for “chance meetings occur everywhere in the world.” And yet, it seems the traumatized attract the traumatized, or “wound attracts wound.” Perhaps there is no better epicenter for that kind of attraction than Hiroshima, and especially so soon after the war had ended.
Although any city can “rebuild” after a tragedy, that underlying layer of what occurred always remains, lingering just beneath the surface (something Germany also knows plenty about). Resnais and Duras eerily convey that reality with the opening scene of the two lovers embracing in a manner that looks less “sexy” than it does emulative of the bodies left in the atom bomb’s ruins. Hence, their arms and torsos covered in ashes meant to look like the thick and heavy remains of the mushroom cloud. This gives way to a subtle transition to their bodies cloaked in the sheen of sweat from a night of passion. But the implication has been made clear: the trauma of Hiroshima is never far behind. And that’s part of the reason a love affair there seems so incongruous, impossible even.
By the end of the film, Resnais and Duras make it apparent that this is, in fact, the case. For only the truly naive would try to make a happy ending out of the final scene. One that occurs after Lui follows Elle into a bar/club called Casablanca. Not a coincidence, needless to say. Resnais’ allusion to the film of the same name more than hints at the idea of this love being doomed from the start. Another romance begat from the trauma of war, and that could only exist in one time and place, but never beyond it.
One of the hottest movies of the summer is the staggeringly good biopic “Oppenheimer,” about the man who oversaw the frantic race to develop the atomic bomb during World War II.
The atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on Aug 6, 1945 was a fission-style device. This also happens to be the same basic physics behind nuclear reactors that are in use today. It’s a reminder that technology can be, at its essence, agnostic: Whether it is used for malevolent or benevolent purposes (in nuclear fission’s instance, an instrument of death or clean, carbon-free electricity) depends upon the intent of the user.
These percentages are likely to rise as global demand for electricity — and concerns about global warming and climate change — rise. This will present opportunities for long-term oriented investors. The lion’s share of this demand — about 70%, says the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), will come from India, which the United Nations says is now the world’s most populous country, China, and Southeast Asia. Put another way, “the world’s growing demand for electricity is set to accelerate, adding more than double Japan’s current electricity consumption over the next three years,” says Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director.
While fossil fuels remain the dominant source of electricity generation worldwide — the Central Intelligence Agency estimates that it provides about 70% of America’s electricity, 71% of India’s and 62% of China’s, for example—the IEA report says future demand will be met almost exclusively from two sources: renewables and nuclear power. “We are close to a tipping point for power sector emissions,” the IEA says. “Governments now need to enable low-emissions sources to grow even faster and drive down emissions so that the world can ensure secure electricity supplies while reaching climate goals.”
“ The Biden administration is a big booster of nuclear energy. ”
It’s helpful that the Biden administration is a big booster of nuclear energy, which the White House sees as an integral part of its broader effort to move the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy says that the country’s 93 reactors generate more than half of America’s carbon-free electricity. But price pressures from wind, solar and natural gas (which the feds call “relatively clean” even though it emits about 60% of coal’s carbon levels) have putseveral reactors out of business in recent years.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law in November 2021 includes $6 billion, spread out over several years, for the so-called Civil Nuclear Credit Program, designed to keep reactors — and the high-paying jobs that come with them — running. If a plant were to close, it would “result in an increase in air pollutants because other types of power plants with higher air pollutants typically fill the void left by nuclear facilities,” the administration says. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the Biden administration is “using every tool available” to get the country powered by clean energy by 2035.
The private sector is beginning to stir. Last week, Maryland-based X-Energy said it would build up to 12 reactors in Central Washington state, for Energy Northwest, a public utility. These wouldn’t be the behemoth-type reactors we’re used to seeing, but “advanced small, nuclear reactors.” X-Energy, which is privately held, has also been selected by Dow DOW, -1.40%
to construct a similar facility in Texas.
Other companies are also rolling out new technology to meet demand. Nuclear fusion — a breakthrough in that it creates more energy than the Oppenheimer-era fission model and at a lower cost — is likely to be the basis for reactors in the years ahead; the Washington, D.C.-based Fusion Industry Association thinks the first fusion power plant could come online by 2030. After seven rounds of funding, one fusion company, Seattle-based Helion Energy, is currently valued at around $3.6 billion, and appears headed for a public offering.
Here too, the Biden administration is getting involved. In May, the Department of Energy announced $46 million in funding for eight other fusion companies. “We have generated energy by drawing power from the sun above us. Fusion offers the potential to create the power of the sun right here on Earth,” says Granholm.
There are several opportunities here for long-term investors. You can pick your way through any number of publicly held companies, including more traditional utilities, or spread your bet across the industry through a handful of exchange-traded funds. The largest of these is the Global X Uranium Fund URA, +0.78%,
with about $1.6 billion in assets. It’s up about 9% year-to-date. The VanEck Uranium + Nuclear Energy Fund NLR, +0.41%
is up almost 10% and sports a 1.8% dividend yield. These are respectable year-t0-date returns, even though they lag the S&P 500 SPX, +0.32%
(up close to 19%) by a wide margin.
President Joe Biden on Sunday called for Republicans to agree to compromises in debt-ceiling negotiations, as he wrapped up a visit to Japan for a G-7 summit and prepared to fly back to Washington, D.C.
“Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions, because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable,” Biden said during a news conference in Japan.
“It’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms. They have to move, as well,” he said.
Biden’s comments on movement were similar to what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said two days ago. The House Republican from south-central California told reporters on Friday that there needs to be “movement by the White House, and we don’t have any movement yet, so, yeah, we’ve got to pause.”
The president’s remarks in Hiroshima came as investors are watching for fresh signs of a bipartisan deal that would lift the federal government’s borrowing limit and prevent a market-shaking default.
Biden accused some Republicans of risking the economic damage of a default because of the 2024 White House race.
“I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy, and because I am president and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame, and that’s the one way to make sure Biden is not re-elected,” he said.
“My guess is he’s going to want to deal directly with me,” the president said, adding that it had to do with “making sure we’re on the same page.”
“Our teams are going to continue working,” Biden also said.
When asked about McCarthy’s call for government spending to be less next year than this year, Biden said his side is “willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue,” referring to tax increases. He also said his team is waiting for a GOP response to the White House’s latest counterproposal.
Graves, the Louisiana Republican, had, with his Friday-morning characterization of debt-ceiling negotiations as at a “pause,” suggested the Biden White House’s representatives were being “unreasonable.” Talks resumed Friday evening, but negotiators quickly called it quits for the night, and there was little progress reported Saturday, with McCarthy telling reporters that he didn’t think there would be an ability to “move forward until the president can get back.”
President Joe Biden on Sunday called for Republicans to agree to compromises in debt-ceiling negotiations, as he wrapped up a visit to Japan for a G-7 summit and prepared to fly back to Washington, D.C.
“Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions, because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable,” Biden said during a news conference in Japan.
“It’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms. They have to move, as well,” he said.
Biden’s comments on movement were similar to what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said two days ago. The House Republican from south-central California told reporters on Friday that there needs to be “movement by the White House, and we don’t have any movement yet, so, yeah, we’ve got to pause.”
The president’s remarks in Hiroshima came as investors are watching for fresh signs of a bipartisan deal that would lift the federal government’s borrowing limit and prevent a market-shaking default.
Biden accused some Republicans of risking the economic damage of a default because of the 2024 White House race.
“I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy, and because I am president and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame, and that’s the one way to make sure Biden is not re-elected,” he said.
“My guess is he’s going to want to deal directly with me,” the president said, adding that it had to do with “making sure we’re on the same page.”
“Our teams are going to continue working,” Biden also said.
When asked about McCarthy’s call for government spending to be less next year than this year, Biden said his side is “willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue,” referring to tax increases. He also said his team is waiting for a GOP response to the White House’s latest counterproposal.
Graves, the Louisiana Republican, had, with his Friday-morning characterization of debt-ceiling negotiations as at a “pause,” suggested the Biden White House’s representatives were being “unreasonable.” Talks resumed Friday evening, but negotiators quickly called it quits for the night, and there was little progress reported Saturday, with McCarthy telling reporters that he didn’t think there would be an ability to “move forward until the president can get back.”
US President Joe Biden and fellow world leaders were unveiling tough new sanctions on Russia as they prepare to hear in-person later this weekend from Volodomyr Zelensky, who officials said was planning a dramatic trip to Japan as he continues to appeal for military assistance amid Russia’s invasion.
The new sanctions are designed to plug loopholes and go after untapped industries as western leaders continue to work toward choking off Moscow’s war financing.
A dedicated G7 session on Ukraine was set for Friday afternoon. The war was expected to be a central topic of discussion among leaders here as Ukrainian forces prepare for a counteroffensive.
The high point will come when Zelensky addresses the group in person. Officials declined to say exactly when Zelensky would arrive or detail his travel arrangements. He has been traveling outside his country more as the war grinds onward, including a tour of Europe last week.
The lengthy trip from Ukraine to Hiroshima, where leaders from the world’s most powerful democracies are gathering, underscores Zelensky’s desire to strengthen support fourteen months into the war.
The menacing nuclear undertones to Russia’s invasion were placed into sharp relief as the summit got underway. Leaders laid wreaths at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the epicenter of the American atomic bomb dropped here in 1945 that wiped out the city and more than 100,000 of its inhabitants while hastening the end of World War II.
In the background was the Atomic Bomb Dome, now a monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The dome was formerly the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and the atomic blast struck almost directly above it, leaving the frame of its iron dome largely intact.
It was against that backdrop that Biden and his fellow leaders entered three days of talks.
The US said Friday it would tighten export controls, including by “extensively restricting categories of goods key to the battlefield,” and will announce nearly 300 new sanctions against “individuals, entities, vessels, and aircraft.”
Additionally, the US will place new designations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and expand its sanctions authorities to further target Russia’s economy.
The United Kingdom said it will ban the import of Russian diamonds, as part of its latest sanctions against Moscow, Downing Street announced on Friday. The move aims to restrict one of Russia’s few remaining export industries that had been relatively untouched by the withering western sanctions already in place.
Imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminum, and nickel will also be banned under the UK legislation, which will be introduced later this year, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The Russian diamond industry was worth $4 billion in exports in 2021, according to Downing Street.
Biden faces his fellow world leaders Friday in Japan under the shadow of a looming default on US debt, a scenario his advisers said risks subverting American leadership and sending the global economy into tailspin.
The risk appears particularly acute as Biden works to rally fellow G7 officials behind a shared approach toward Russia and China. On the first day of the summit talks, the group is expected to unveil a new tightening of sanctions on Moscow – a response to the invasion of Ukraine that relies on the strength of the American financial system.
Before arriving, Biden was briefed on the debt ceiling standoff by aides.
“The President’s team informed him that steady progress is being made,” a White House official said.
The call lasted 20-30 minutes, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told pool reporters traveling with the President. A separate source with knowledge of the talks said — despite the optimism and positive signals — there is a long way to go to get a deal and it’s unclear if negotiators reach one by this weekend or if it will slip into next week.
How much the debt standoff arises in Biden’s talks in Hiroshima remains to be seen; some European officials said they had been down similar roads before as American leaders worked to avert financial disaster only to find a solution at the last moment.
But even if it does not arise substantially in the many hours of leaders’ meetings spanning the next three days, the risk of default remains the backdrop against which Biden will attempt to project strength this week in Japan.
“Debt ceiling brinkmanship that Republicans are driving in Washington, DC, undermines American leadership, undermines the trustworthiness that America can bring to not just our allies and partners but to the rest of the world,” a senior administration official said as Biden began the high-stakes G7 summit.
Biden cut his trip to Asia short to return to Washington early as negotiations continue over raising the US borrowing limit ahead of June 1, the earliest date by which the country could run out of cash to pay its bills.
An extensive agenda of issues, including Ukraine, China and artificial intelligence, are all up for discussion. But it was clear from Biden’s decision to cancel planned stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea – Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make a two-day visit to the latter instead – that other matters are weighing on the US president’s time.
To that end, Biden brought with him to Japan a top domestic policy aide, Bruce Reed, to keep him continually updated on the status of talks between White House aides and congressional Republicans.
Just the threat of default has the potential to weaken American diplomatic authority, the official said, citing a sanctions regime on Russia that relies on the strength of the US financial system.
“All of those things reduce America’s capacity to lead,” the official said.
Biden’s meetings with fellow leaders in Hiroshima will present “an opportunity to highlight just how essential it is that that the Republicans work to get this done expeditiously with the president, because a lot is riding on ensuring that the United States continues to lead and lead alongside the G7.”
Nowhere is that more evident than Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The conflict will be a key topic of discussion for world leaders Friday.
“All G7 members are preparing to implement new sanctions and export controls,” the senior official said, framing the US package of sanctions as “substantial.”
The official previewed a five-pronged plan of new steps G7 nations are taking more broadly to further economically isolate Russia, including efforts to disrupt Russia’s ability to source inputs for its war and to close loopholes that have allowed certain Russian entities to evade existing sanctions.
The sanctions come 14 months after Russia launched its invasion and as Ukraine prepares for a counteroffensive using billions of dollars in Western military aid.
Biden and fellow leaders were planning to discuss how much progress has been made on the battlefield, with an eye toward helping Ukraine regain territory and assume leverage in potential peace talks.
While the US remains Ukraine’s largest contributor of military assistance, some leaders have begun calling for ever-more-advanced weapons, including fighter jets, to send Kyiv. Biden has resisted those calls as he works to prevent an escalation.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
HIROSHIMA, Japan — China on Saturday faced a strong pushback from the Group of Seven countries over its stances on Russia, Taiwan, trade bullying, economic monopoly and domestic interference, with the G7 leaders’ statement reflecting a broad convergence of the U.S., Europe and Japan on a need to change tack.
Issued around the time of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s arrival in Hiroshima, where the summit is taking place, the statement by leaders of the G7 wealthy democracies asked Beijing to do more to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“We call on China to press Russia to stop its military aggression, and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” the leaders said in the statement. “We encourage China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine.”
Crucially, the U.S. and Europe — the two main constituents of the G7 — came round to a common set of language on China. For France and Germany, in particular, their focus on a conciliatory attitude to China was reflected in the final statement, which began the China section by stating “We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China.”
The G7’s repeated emphasis of “de-risking, not decoupling” is a nod to the EU approach to China, as European member countries are wary of completely cutting off business ties with Beijing.
The language on Taiwan remained the same compared with recent statements. “We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community,” the statement said, adding there’s “no change in the basic positions” in terms of the one China policies.
Domestic interference
Apart from Russia, another new element this year is the mention of domestic interference — which human rights groups say is a reflection of the growing concern about China’s “overseas police stations” in other countries. “We call on China … not to conduct interference activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions and our economic prosperity,” the leaders said in their statement, citing the Vienna Convention which regulates diplomatic affairs.
On global economics, both sides of the Atlantic and Japan now see the need to fundamentally change the overall dynamic of economic globalization, placing security at the front of policy considerations.
“Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development. A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest,” the G7 leaders said in the statement.
“We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying. We will take steps, individually and collectively, to invest in our own economic vibrancy. We will reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains,” they said.
One central theme is economic coercion, where China has punished a wide range of countries — from Japan and Australia to Lithuania and South Korea — over the decade when political disagreements arose.
The G7 countries launched a new “coordination platform on economic coercion” to “increase our collective assessment, preparedness, deterrence and response to economic coercion,” according to the statement. They also plan to coordinate with other partners to further the work on this.
For France, the focus on a conciliatory attitude to China was reflected in the final statement, which began by stating “We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China” | Pool phot by Stefan Rousseau/Getty Images
The joint call for diverse sources of critical minerals, while stopping short of naming China, is widely seen as targeted against the Asian superpower that controls, for instance, 70 percent of global rare earths output. The G7 countries “support open, fair, transparent, secure, diverse, sustainable, traceable, rules and market-based trade in critical minerals” and “oppose market-distorting practices and monopolistic policies on critical minerals,” according to the statement.
They also vow to deliver the goal of mobilizing up to $600 billion in financing for quality infrastructure through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, a rival to China’s Belt and Road initiative. “We will mobilize the private sector for accelerated action to this end,” they said.
In a bilateral in Hiroshima, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron “welcomed the strong unity of purpose at the G7 on … our collective approach to the economic threat posed by China,” a spokesperson for Sunak’s office said.
The West’s effort to potentially send modern fighter jets to Ukraine “carries enormous risks,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned on Saturday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The minister’s comments in an interview with TASS come in the wake of the U.S. getting behind a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to use modern fighter aircraft including F-16s. This could also pave the way to eventually send advanced Western combat jets to Ukraine, according to a senior administration official.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. decision in a tweet on Friday, saying that it “will greatly enhance our army in the sky.” He added that he counted on discussing “the practical implementation of this decision” at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them,” Grushko said in the interview. “In any case, we will take it into account when making plans. We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals,” he added.
The decision from the U.S. follows a concerted effort by Ukraine to get its allies to supply its military with modern jets, in particular the U.S.-built F-16s.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres backed the reform of the U.N. Security Council and the international financial system to align them with the “realities of today’s world.”
Both the U.N. body and the financial architecture reflect the power relations of 1945 and need to be updated, Guterres told a press conference Sunday on the margins of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, according to Reuters.
“The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” Guterres said. “In the face of the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfill its core function as a global safety net.”
Guterres made the same point on Saturday, writing in a tweet that it was “time to think seriously about the reform” of the international financial architecture.
The U.N. Security Council came under fire in April when Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the 15-member body despite the fact that 141 countries condemned its aggression on Ukraine. Experts have claimed that Russia’s veto in the Security Council undermines the U.N.’s effectiveness on the international stage.
HIROSHIMA, Japan — As the leaders of the Group of Seven gather for their annual summit in Japan this week, three world-changing conflicts — past, present and potential — will converge.
The atomic bomb that ended World War II destroyed much of the city of Hiroshima, where the leaders will meet. Today, Russia’s war in Ukraine is costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars as it drags on. And then there’s the risk of another horrifying catastrophe to come, as China threatens Taiwan.
And it’s over China where the alliance may come unstuck.
For hawks like the U.S. and Japan, the summit beginning Friday offers a timely opportunity to make the case to Europe’s leaders directly that it’s time to get off the fence when it comes to confronting China.
“This G7 Summit will be an appropriate venue to also discuss security issues and our security cooperation not only in Europe, but also in the Indo-Pacific region,” Noriyuki Shikata, cabinet secretary at the Japanese prime minister’s office, told POLITICO.
The U.S. is betting on at least the appearance of common ground with allies about the People’s Republic of China. Ahead of the summit, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters: “You can expect to hear at the end of those discussions that all the G7 leaders are of a common mind about how to deal with the challenges that the PRC presents.”
But — beyond the inevitably bland diplomatic lines of a summit communique — getting consensus on meaningful security measures for the Indo-Pacific region will be hard, even in the symbolic setting of Hiroshima.
East Asia is again descending into a state of growing security risks and military imbalance, this time due to China’s aggressive moves against Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“There’s a feeling that there’s a little bit of a gap, perhaps, between where the Europeans are on some China issues and where the U.S. is,” said Zack Cooper, former aide to the U.S. National Security Council and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Chief among the points of tension is how far to go in trying to stop a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could trigger world war and wreck the global economy. The self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own, provides most of the world’s advanced computer chips that are vital to the tech and defense industries. Not all European governments are convinced it’s something they need to prioritize. “It’s going to be a continuing challenge,” Cooper said.
Picking friends
NATO is set to extend its footprint in Asia and set up a new liaison office in Tokyo to better coordinate with regional partners, such as Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly called on NATO to focus only on the Euro-Atlantic theater, saying Asia — China — is not covered geographically. He also triggered an outcry with recent comments to POLITICO, suggesting that Taiwan’s security was not Europe’s fight, and that the EU should not automatically follow America’s lead.
Justin Trudeau comes to the G7 following months of intelligence leaks that have painted his government as weak on foreign interference | Yuchi Yamazaki/AFP via Getty Images
Macron’s stance sets France — which is the EU’s biggest military power — apart from the U.S. and Japan, and also from the U.K., where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a new security deal with Japan during his visit.
“Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last year, not long after Russia’s full-scale invasion began. Last week, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi made an even more explicit warning in a speech made to his 27 EU counterparts in Sweden.
“China is continuing and intensifying its unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas. China is also increasing its military activities around Taiwan,” Hayashi said. “In addition, China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan.”
The Chinese-Russian ties will be part of the G7 leaders’ discussions, according to two officials involved in the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity because summit preparations are not public. While the Chinese authorities stop short of openly arming Russia in its war against Ukraine, a long-term strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow is unshakable for President Xi Jinping.
G7 countries such as the U.S. and Japan are expected to raise the need to sanction countries that work around Western trade restrictions on Russia, according to the officials. Chinese companies found to be selling dual use goods to Russia would be a top focus.
Bully tactics
China’s willingness to throw around its economic weight is one area where there’s likely to be more unity between G7 allies.
The need to fight back against economic coercion will take center stage at the summit. The EU, U.S., Canada and Japan are going to rally around calls to combat China’s use of its economic power to bully smaller economies that act against its political interests.
“The sense of urgency and unity is a force factor in and of itself. For example, never before has the G7 addressed economic coercion,” Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, told POLITICO.
“When measured against the recent past, the G7 and EU are more strategically aligned in key economic and military matters,” added Emanuel, who served as chief of staff to former U.S. President Barack Obama.
When it comes to the European view, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is clear that the bloc is “competing with China” and will need to up its game. “We will reduce strategic dependencies — we have learned the lessons of the last year,” she said in a press conference ahead of the trip.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, comes to the G7 following months of intelligence leaks that have painted his government as weak on foreign interference, specifically from China. He’ll be carrying Canada’s message that it can be a safe, non-authoritarian alternative to Russia and China for supplying critical minerals and energy, including nuclear power.
Despite the toughening rhetoric on China, what still unites the G7 countries is an eagerness not to shut the door on talks with Beijing.
US President Joe Biden arrives to attend the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on May 18, 2023 | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The Biden administration has for months been seeking to secure a visit to China for top Cabinet members, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, held eight hours of talks with the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign policy chief, Wang Yi, this month.
Just before he left for Japan on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked whether his last-minute decision to truncate his trip abroad could be seen as “almost a win for China.” Instead of staying in the region for a summit of the Quad — Japan, India, the U.S. and Australia — Biden plans to return to Washington Sunday to deal with domestic issues.
The president downplayed the move as something China could use to its advantage, noting he will still meet with Quad nation leaders in Japan. “We get a chance to talk separately at the meeting,” he said
Then, Biden was asked whether he has plans to speak with the Chinese president soon.
“Whether it’s soon or not, we will be meeting,” he said, before leaving the room.
Cristina Gallardo in London and Zi-Ann Lum in Ottawa contributed reporting.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would increase security at G7 meetings taking place in his country, a day after a man threw a smoke bomb at him at a campaign event.
Kishida was campaigning Saturday ahead of next week’s by-elections for the Japanese parliament when an explosive device was hurled toward him. Footage on Twitter appeared to show a bodyguard kicking a smoke bomb away from the prime minister and bundling him away, after the device landed near them. A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene.
Japan will host the leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized nations at a summit in Hiroshima next month.
On Sunday, speaking after emerging unscathed from the smoke bomb incident, CNN quoted Kishida as saying: “Japan as a whole must strive to provide maximum security during the dates of the summit and other gatherings of dignitaries from around the world.”
G7 foreign ministers are meeting Sunday for a three-day conference in Karuizawa, where they are expected to discuss China’s aggression toward Taiwan, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and North Korea’s missile testing. G7 climate ministers, meanwhile, are completing a two-day meeting in Sapporo.
The Kishida incident had eerie echoes of the shocking assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last July.
Germany and Japan agreed on Saturday to strengthen cooperation on economic security in the aftermath of tensions over global supply chains and the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.
In the first high-ministerial government consultations held between the two countries, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reached out to Tokyo to seek to reduce Germany’s dependence on China for imports of raw materials.
“The current challenges of our time make it clear: It is important to expand cooperation with close partners and acquire new partners. We want to reduce dependencies and increase the resilience of our economies.” the German chancellor said in a tweet.
Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they believe the agreement will allow both countries to diversify value chains in order to be able to reduce economic risks.
In a joint statement, the two countries said they will work on establishing “a legal framework for bilateral defense and security cooperation activities,” including ways to protect critical infrastructures, trade routes and to secure future supply of sustainable energy.
Germany’s decision to prioritize consultations with Japan came after the Asian country put forward an economic security bill last year aimed at securing the uptake of technology and bolstering critical supply chains.
Japan is Germany’s second-largest trading partner in Asia after China, with a bilateral trade volume of €45.7 billion mainly based on the import and export of machinery, vehicles, electronics and chemical products.
The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and the G7 meeting in Hiroshima scheduled for May.
