Tokyo: The Group of Seven Leaders’ summit, which kicks off on Friday in the city of Hiroshima, is set to discuss issues such as China’s intensifying military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, the Ukraine conflict, food security and major tech topics like the rise of artificial intelligence applications, such as ChatGPT.
The summit comes days after a Chinese naval flotilla led by a powerful destroyer was on a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan’s main islands in a display of military power.
Japanese PM Fumio Kishida said today that he wants the G7 forum to send a clear message on the need for a free and open Indo-Pacific and to move towards “a world without nuclear weapons”.
He said: “We should make every effort to safeguard and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law. I am determined to convey that strong stance to the world.” He stressed that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force cannot be tolerated, in an interview to NHK.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is expected to top the agenda at the summit. G7 leaders are facing pressure to do more in response to the continued fighting.
Kishida said: “I’m aware of concerns that Russia is evading and circumventing sanctions in various ways. We should take coordinated action to make sanctions more effective.”
The summit kicks off on Friday in one of only two cities to have ever been hit by an atomic bomb. Kishida wants G7 leaders to reflect on that.
“I hope the summit will be a chance to build momentum for realizing a world without nuclear weapons,” Kishida said.
He said he wants the gathering to spur interest by the West to get involved in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. Kishida added he also wants to send a united message to China amid Beijing’s increasing assertiveness.
AI will be one of the key agenda items at the Hiroshima summit.
In an interview with local media on Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan hopes to launch an initiative called the “Hiroshima AI Process” to create an international framework for drafting rules for AI.
During a recent meeting in Japan, the G7 tech ministers agreed that there needs to be a degree of standardization.
The European Union is, for instance, taking steps to introduce an AI bill to rein in such tools using a risk-based approach.
Japan is accelerating its discussions on the challenges posed by AI, with the government last week forming a new panel to help draft a national AI strategy.
A key priority for Japan in the digital talks at the Hiroshima summit is to promote its “Data Free Flow with Trust” concept, which was originally proposed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019. DFFT is designed to promote free cross-border data flows in a trustworthy manner.
The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, plus the European Union.
Eight guest nations, including India, Brazil, Australia, Comoros, the Cook Islands, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam have also been invited.
