Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, left, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, right, the Japanese minister in charge of trade and the economy, attend a G-7 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. Trade and economy officials from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies strengthened their pledge Sunday to work together to ensure smooth supply chains for essentials like energy and food despite global uncertainties.
“We nations that share important values have a position of responsibility amid growing uncertainties,” she said in closing the meeting, stressing democracy, inclusiveness and human rights. The G-7 nations reiterated their criticism of what they called in their joint statement “Russia’s brutal, unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
China, while absent at the meetings, loomed as a focal point. China has imposed export curbs on two metals used in computer chips and solar cells — gallium and germanium — that it said were intended to “safeguard national security.” Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Japanese minister in charge of trade and the economy, said G-7 nations expressed support and understanding for Japan’s position, stressing the safety of Japanese food based on scientific evidence, including that from Fukushima. Japan will continue to press for the food bans to end, he told reporters.