China summons the Japanese ambassador over the G7 actions

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Sunday that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to record protests over “the noise over China-related issues” at the G7 summit over the weekend.

Sun said Japan cooperated with other countries at the G7 summit “in joint activities and declarations…to smear and attack China, flagrantly interfere in China’s internal affairs, and violate the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan,” referring to the Chinese statement. Joint Japanese of 1972.

He said Japan’s actions harm China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and China is “strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed.”

“Japan should correct its understanding of China, uphold strategic autonomy, abide by the principles of the Four China-Japan Political Documents, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude,” Sun said.

The Chinese embassy in Britain had earlier asked London to stop slandering and defaming China to avoid further damage to relations between China and the United Kingdom.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Tom Hogg)