One of the major questions surrounding the Group of Seven summit in the United Kingdom this weekend was how the countries' leaders would approach China in their final communique, especially following reports that President Biden was urging his allies to take a strong stand against its forced labor practices. The communique was unveiled Sunday, and it appears the cohort opted to send a message to Beijing on that front, just not explicitly. For his part, Biden said he's "satisfied" with the final result, even though it wasn't as strong as the U.S. had hoped, Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs and The Wall Street Journal's Vivian Salama report.
China received four direct mentions in the communique, including: a request for further investigation into the origins of COVID-19; an agreement to consult on China's "non-market ... practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy"; an expression of concern regarding tensions in the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait; and a call for Beijing "to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms" in Xinjiang, home to the country's Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, as well as Hong Kong.
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