• Leaders also committed to peace, stability of Taiwan during summit

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide on Sunday said he had won firm support at a G7 summit meeting in Britain for holding the Tokyo Olympics despite public concern that the sports extravaganza could worsen the spread of coronavirus infections.

“I won very strong support from all the leaders … as the prime minister of the host country, I was very heartened by such support,” Suga told reporters shortly after the end of the summit.

To bring the virus crisis in developing countries under control, the G-7 leaders agreed to provide at least one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world by the end of 2022.

The G-7 leaders also clarified their commitment on Sunday to the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, cautioning against Chinese military pressure on the self-ruled island.

“We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues,” the G-7 leaders said in a communique summing their discussions at the three-day meeting through Sunday in a seaside resort in Cornwall, southwestern England.

This is the first time for a G-7 summit statement to refer to Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province that needs to be reunited with the mainland.

In an indirect reference to China, the leaders also said, “We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and increase tensions.”

The G-7 summit, held in person for the first time in about two years after last year’s meeting was canceled due to the pandemic, brought together leaders of the seven countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — as well as the European Union.

Reuters with inputs from  JIJI Press