People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

TheGroupofSeven,withsignificantlyweakeningeconomicheft,isunabletorepresenttheworld,yettheyhavefailedtofaceuptothegeneraltrendofthetimesandfixatedonColdWarmentality.

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 20 (Xinhua) -- At the Group of Seven (G7) Summit starting here Friday, the U.S.-led clique is again hyping up their so-called "law and order," whereas political observers have precisely debunked the essence of their lies -- a scheme to play small-clique politics and dictate to the rest of the world.

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U.S. UNDERMINING FREE TRADE

The G7 on Saturday issued a statement concerning economic resilience and security, threatening to counter "economic coercion," which will de facto divide the world into two markets and two systems in such areas as semiconductors and critical minerals under the pretext of reducing dependence on China.

As reported by the Financial Times, "the co-ordination on China follows two years of efforts by the Biden administration, helped by Japan." The United States is the main culprit in lulling its allies into unplugging from China, which constitutes a serious violation of the principles of free trade and market economy and will harm global economic development.

The longer-term cost of trade fragmentation could reach up to 7 percent of global output and some countries could see losses of up to 12 percent of GDP in case of additional technological decoupling, the International Monetary Fund said in a report in January.

The United States has been trying to jeopardize the Chinese economy through various means including trade wars, but the ever-growing China-U.S. trade in itself demonstrates that U.S. businesses and people need trade with China, Kazuteru Saionji, a visiting professor at Higashi Nippon International University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"By dragging the G7 bloc to suppress China under the pretext of de-risking this time, the country is conducting an atrocity deliberately undermining free trade and the world economic division of labor system," the professor noted.

Recent years have seen the G7, also known as "the rich club," suffering an irreversible decline of national power. The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the G7"s share of the global economy has fallen from nearly 70 percent in the 1980s to currently about 40 percent, which shows no sign of ceasing to decline.

People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, 2023. Amid waves of protests, the G7 leaders" annual summit got underway in Hiroshima on Friday. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

The G7, with significantly weakening economic heft, is unable to represent the world, yet they have failed to face up to the general trend of the times and fixated on Cold War mentality, said Japanese political observers.

"The G7 has descended into a group of old-fashioned countries clinging to the so-called established international political order," said Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan, adding that with the international community moving forward to pluralism, the G7"s relentless efforts to go against the trend of the times will undoubtedly cause imbalance and injustice in the international community.

"The era when the United States and other G7 nations control world politics, economy and military has come to an end," noted Saionji.

EFFORTS TO DIVIDE WORLD DOOMED TO FAIL

The G7 also vowed to heighten sanctions against Russia and intensify diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine, and condemned Russia in the strongest possible terms in the G7 Hiroshima Leaders" Communique issued Saturday.

Kumiko Haba, professor of Kanagawa University, pointed out that the United States has benefited tremendously from the Ukraine crisis, which has consolidated its hegemony by taking a favorable position in international military, economy and politics during the crisis.

On the Ukraine issue, China has always been promoting peace talks while the G7 has been impeding China"s efforts, said Koketsu, adding that apparently, as long as the G7 is bent on providing military aid to Ukraine, the conflict and tension will linger on.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the ceremony of the venue for World Expo 2025 at Osaka"s Yumeshima artificial island in Osaka, Japan, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

Prior to the G7 summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview with local media that China and Russia should not be allowed to unilaterally change the status quo, a stance that was widely questioned and refuted by scholars and analysts.

Kishida added that he takes the summit as an opportunity to send this message to the international community.

The Japanese leader"s claim that "Taiwan contingency is a contingency for Japan" simply follows the U.S. military policy of encircling China unconditionally, as Japan is pushing for military integration with the United States, said Koketsu.

His opinion was echoed by Saionji, who pointed out that such a crisis-inciting statement will increase tensions in East Asia and hinder regional peace.

As East Asian countries oppose inciting confrontation and creating regional tension, the United States and Japan"s ploy of using the Taiwan question to attack China is doomed to fail, said Saionji.