G7 confronts China on commerce, pope talks about AI
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[June 15, 2024]
By Andrea Shalal and John Irish
BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy (Reuters) -Pope Francis made an historic appearance
at the Group of Seven summit on Friday to speak about the pros and cons
of artificial intelligence, while G7 leaders also pledged to tackle what
they said were harmful business practices by China.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the summit host, invited the pope
and other heads of state and government, including the prime minister of
India and the king of Jordan, in an effort to show the G7 was not an
aloof, exclusive club.
"We will never accept the narrative that wants the 'West against the
rest'," Meloni told the meeting on Friday.
The pope, arriving in a wheelchair and warmly greeted by leaders
including U.S. President Joe Biden and a fellow Argentine, President
Javier Milei, acknowledged the ambivalence surrounding AI, saying it
could inspire excitement and broaden access to knowledge.
"Yet at the same time, it could bring with it a greater injustice
between advanced and developing nations or between dominant and
oppressed social classes," the 87-year-old said.
The core G7 members -- the United States, Italy, Britain, France,
Germany, Japan and Canada -- had earlier focused on China's economic
clout and what they see as unbalanced markets in areas such as electric
vehicles, steel and renewable energy.
Their summit statement, released on Friday evening, stressed the G7 was
not trying to harm China or thwart its economic development but would
"continue to take actions to protect our businesses from unfair
practices, to level the playing field and remedy ongoing harm".
The G7 also warned of action against Chinese financial institutions that
helped Russia obtain weapons for its war against Ukraine.
Washington this week imposed fresh sanctions on China-based firms
supplying semiconductors to Russia amid worries over Beijing's
increasingly aggressive stance against Taiwan and run-ins with the
Philippines over rival maritime claims.
MIGRATION COALITION
Leaders also discussed immigration, a crucial issue for Meloni who is
pushing Europe to help her curb illegal flows from Africa and who has
launched a flagship plan to boost development in the continent to tackle
the root cause of the departures.
They agreed to launch a coalition to crack down on people smuggling,
with greater cooperation on investigations into trafficking networks and
confiscation of their assets.
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Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel
Macron, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Jordan's King
Abdullah, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, World Bank
President Ajay Banga, European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen and Managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Kristalina Georgieva and pose for a family photo on the second day
of the G7 summit at the Borgo Egnazia resort, in Savelletri, Italy
June 14, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
"Illegal migration is now a global emergency," British Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak said. "We all agree that it's for sovereign
nations to control their borders and not criminal gangs."
Sunak said it was the first time a G7 summit had discussed
migration, hailing that as a sign of progress.
"Obviously, these things don't happen overnight," he said. "(But)
the conversation ... was very productive, so I'm confident it will
make a difference."
During the first day of their meeting in southern Italy, the G7
nations agreed an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for
Ukraine backed by interest from frozen Russian assets - hailing the
accord as a powerful signal of Western resolve.
In the summit statement, G7 leaders said they wanted to inflict
further costs on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and also
promised sanctions against entities that helped Russia circumvent
restrictions on its oil trading by transporting it fraudulently.
However, Meloni, who heads a right-wing government, ran into choppy
waters over the handling of sensitive social issues in the statement
summing up the work of the G7.
G7 leaders made no direct reference to abortion in their final
communique, with Italy refusing to bow to French pressure to include
the word. The draft also sparked accusations of watering down
support for LGBTQ rights compared with the statement issued at the
leaders' previous meeting in Japan.
Italy said it was a diplomatic storm in a teacup and argued that the
G7 had not changed its stance on either issue.
Many of the leaders, including Biden, were due to leave Italy late
on Friday. On Saturday, there will be room for bilateral meetings
for those staying on, ahead of a final news conference from Meloni.
(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer, Andrew Gray, Angelo Amante,
Thomas Escritt and Alistair Smout; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by
Christina Fincher, Alex Richardson, Toby Chopra and Crispian Balmer)
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