Leaders of the G7 gather in Japan this weekend amid global fears of a US debt default, deepening division over energy policy and no end in sight for the war in Ukraine.
But for Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, the top challenge for the annual summit of advanced economies will be whether it can project a unified G7 response to China’s military ambitions and its use of “economic coercion” as US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen described it last week.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kishida has tried to align with G7 counterparts in the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Canada by rolling out tough sanctions against Moscow and forging closer ties with the Nato alliance. He has also approved a significant increase in Japan’s military spending to counter the threat from China.