Taipei: Top diplomats from the G7 have expressed concern over the recent military exercises conducted by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, highlighting the intensified risks to regional and global security.
According to Focus Taiwan, in a joint statement posted Sunday on the U.S. State Department website, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union expressed "deep concern about China's provocative actions, particularly the recent large-scale military drills around Taiwan."
The statement noted that these increasingly frequent and destabilizing activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity. The G7 countries and the international community as a whole "have an interest in the preservation of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the statement added.
G7 members emphasized their opposition to any unilateral actions that threaten peace and stability, including by force or coercion, and continue to encourage the peaceful resolution of issues through constructive cross-Strait dialogue.
The PLA's Eastern Theater Command conducted its latest exercises in waters around Taiwan on April 1 and 2. The two-day exercises were described as "a stern warning" to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, according to a statement from China's Taiwan Affairs Office.