US to push back against China economic coercion at G-7 meeting

FILE PHOTO: Flags are pictured during the first working session of G-7 foreign ministers in Muenster, Germany, Nov 3, 2022. (Reuters)

The US is pressing the need for allies to coordinate against economic coercion, not just military threats, as Japan prepares to host top diplomats from the Group of Seven nations amid heightened tensions with China.

“That coercion piece is important,” US Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel said in an interview days before the ministerial meeting begins in the mountain resort of Karuizawa on Sunday. “It keeps the United States in the centre of gravity and helps our allies and alliance and our friends to know that we are in the game.”