That’s it for now. We’ll end with Justin McCurry wrap up of day one of the summit:
They could be “rattled” by the prospect of Donald Trump as US president?
Or just amused.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is on his way to the summit.
Ban Ki-moon arrives in Japan to attend @g7. pic.twitter.com/E9O1EvwJaW
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) May 26, 2016
Updated
The leaders of both the EU and the US have made some barbed comments about Chinese protectionism at the summit.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU was ready to “step up” its measures to defend the steel industry against dumping.
He made clear the issue would be considered when deciding whether to grant the coveted “market economy status” to China.
He added:
“Global overcapacity in the steel sector is of great concern to Europeans. It has cost Europe thousands of jobs since 2008 and the over-capacity in China alone has been estimated at almost double European annual production.
“So we will make it clear that we will step up our trade defence measures. This effort has started and as far as the market economy status for China is concerned, we will discuss this in detail. The European Union has launched an in-depth impact assessment and when this impact assessment is finished, we can deliver in the best way possible.
“Everyone has to know that if somebody distorts the market, Europe cannot be defenceless.”
Obama also appeared to be addressing the Chinese when he said the leaders at the summit “emphasised the importance of pushing back against either protectionism or competitive currency devaluations or the kinds of beggar-thy-neighbour strategies that all to often lead to everyone being worse off.”
Updated
David Cameron uses a possible trade deal that could be worth £5bn to UK economy to make argument for Britain remaining in Europe, writes Anushka Asthana.
Some of the world leaders at the G7 got an underwhelming spin in fuel-cell cars, according to AFP.
Matteo Renzi of Italy and Canadian leader Justin Trudeau were bundled into eco-friendly sedans for an achingly slow ride around a carpark that ended with the photogenic pair dropped off for the talks, which are being held southwest of Tokyo.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk also got a very uneventful crash course on the cars, which are powered by hydrogen and emit only water from their exhaust pipe.
Juncker emerged from his low-adrenaline ride looking a little underwhelmed and offered what appeared to be a shrug.
David Cameron stayed away, as Justin McCurry noted earlier.
#G7 leaders test drove #autonomous and #fuelcell vehicles #IseShima #Japan https://t.co/0ShdRIGWq5 pic.twitter.com/B2uDktT549
— G7 (@g7) May 26, 2016
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key developments on the first day of the G7 summit.
- Barack Obama said that world leaders are rightly “rattled” by the prospect of Donald Trump running for US president. “A lot of the proposals that he has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude,” Obama told reporters at the summit.
- Speaking a day ahead of his historic visit to Hiroshima, Obama said the trip will underline the dangers of nuclear warfare. “The backdrop of a nuclear event remains something that presses on the back of our imagination,” he said.
- “North Korea is big worry for all us,” Obama said. He added: “Kim Jong-Un in particular seems to be convinced that his own legitimacy is tied up with developing nuclear weapons.”
- The leaders of European countries and Japan have agreed to timeline on a trade deal that is said to be worth £5bn for the UK economy. Cameron said: “This agreement underlines once again why we are stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU.”
- Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe warned of an economic crisis on the scale of 2008. Abe presented data at an opening session showing that commodities prices have fallen 55% since 2014, the same margin they fell during the global financial crisis, the newspaper said, interpreting this as “warning of the re-emergence of a Lehman-scale crisis”.
- European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and his senior Martin Selmayr, have criticised leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson. Juncker said Johnson’s claims about European integration were not “in line with reality”. Selmayr, then stoked the row by tweeting about the “horror scenario” of a 2017 G7 meeting with Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Johnson around the leaders’ table.
- Johnson dismissed the remarks. “What I’m saying to the British people is in line with reality. If we vote to remain ... then they will go on with measures to take us further into a federal European super state,” he told Sky News.
- Earlier, the leaders attended the Ise Jingu shrine – a choice of location that drawn criticism that Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is attempting to use the shrine to promote his conservative political agenda.
EU agrees timing on trade deal with Japan
The European Union and Japan have reached political agreement on speeding up the completion of long-running negotiations for a trade deal which Downing Street believes could be worth £5bn a year to the UK economy, PA reports.
In talks at the G7 summit in Japan, leaders including David Cameron agreed to instruct negotiators to work to an accelerated timetable which could see the deal concluded as early as this autumn and come into effect next year.
The prime minister made it a key objective of the two-day gathering to secure progress in negotiations on the EU/Japan Economic Partnership Agreement/Free Trade Agreement - which began in 2013 and were initially intended to be completed last year.
Downing Street said an agreement could be worth the equivalent of £200 a year to British households in increased exports of products such as cars, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and drinks, as well as services, to Japan.
But key elements of the deal - including tariffs on agricultural and automotive exports and government procurement - must be completed over the summer if it is to be signed by the end of the year. A successful deal would mean the elimination of the vast majority of trade tariffs and boost imports and exports in key areas such as agriculture, car manufacturing and clothing, said Downing Street.
Welcoming the progress made towards finalising the deal, Cameron said: “This agreement underlines once again why we are stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. As prime minister [Shinzo] Abe said when visiting the UK, Japan’s priority is negotiating with large trade blocs - not individual states in Europe. And this is something we hear time and again from foreign leaders.
“Not only will UK households lose out to the tune of 4,300 a year if we vote to leave, but we will be turning our backs on global trade deals which underpin our security and prosperity.”
In a statement Abe said: “The agreement is going to be beneficial for bringing in sustainable and robust growth for the whole world economy.”
Updated
Obama said he expects the Taliban to continue a strategy of violence following the appointment of a hardline leader, adding that the United States aims to uphold Afghanistan’s fragile democratisation and prevent its use as a base by Islamic State, Reuters reports.
“This continues to be an organisation that sees violence as a strategy for obtaining its goals and moving its agenda forward in Afghanistan,” said Obama, told reporters during the G7 summit.
“In the short-term, we anticipate that the Taliban will continue to pursue an agenda of violence and blowing up innocent people.”
“Our goal right now is to make sure (Afghanistan’s) constitution and democratic process is upheld (and) maintain the counter-terrorism platforms that we need in the region so that al Qaeda and now Isil are not able to take root and use it as a base to attack us in the United States,” he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
The selection of cleric Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada as the new Taliban chief on Wednesday all but dashes Obama’s hopes for opening peace talks before he leaves office, one of his top foreign policy goals, current and former US defence and intelligence officials said.
Akhundzada, a conservative Islamic scholar from the Taliban’s stronghold in southern Afghanistan, succeeded Mullah Akhtar Mansour four days after he was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
Some US officials had expressed hope that Mansour’s death would eliminate an obstacle to peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
And here’s AP take on Obama’s claim that world leaders are rattled by Trump.
Associated Press have done a take on Obama’s comments on Trump:
Updated
It’s not just world leaders who are “rattled” by Donald Trump. A new poll of the public in six countries allied to the US found that 78% thought that Trump would make the world more dangerous.
The YouGov poll for the campaign group Avaaz found that 61% said his views made a Paris style attack more likely.
The survey views from the UK, France, Germany, Mexico, Canada and Japan is believed to be the first global poll on attitudes to Trump.
When asked about Trump’s views, 62% of Britons with good knowledge of Trump’s views said they made them ‘concerned’, 75% said they ‘dislike or hate’ his politics, and they make 38% feel ‘sick to their stomach’.
Results also show that Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, which has targeted Muslims, Mexicans, and women, is damaging America’s reputation among citizens of its allies, with 74% of polled respondents saying they thought less of America thanks to Trump’s hardline views.
Ricken Patel, the head of Avaaz, said:
“Most of the world agrees with most Americans - The Donald is dangerously dumb. A dream for Isis [Islamic State] and a nightmare for the rest of us. People everywhere are united against his politics of division, because they know the only way we meet challenges like terrorism and climate change is together.”
David Cameron’s enthusiasm for cars clearly doesn’t carry over to the new, eco-friendly variety, after he reportedly turned down the opportunity to try out a one of Japan’s latest hydrogen-powered vehicles, writes Justin McCurry.
With the slowdown in the global economy dominating talks, it was perhaps appropriate that Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and Canadian leader Justin Trudeau were driven around at snail’s pace during a demonstration of Japan’s latest fuel-cell technology.
The four were treated to a post-prandial spin in eco-friendly sedans, which are powered by hydrogen and emit only water from their exhaust pipe.
Juncker reacted to his experience with a shrug, while David Cameron, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande had reportedly indicated to their Japanese hosts that they did not wish to appear in Top Gear: the G7 episode.
Obama brushed off calls for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to move hurriedly to resolve the primary so that Democrats can unite behind one candidate, AP reports.
The president argued that that unlike the Republicans, this year’s Democratic candidates aren’t that ideologically divided. He likened the hard-fought campaign between Clinton and Sanders to the one he waged with Clinton in 2008.
“During primaries, people get a little grumpy with each other. Somebody’s supporter pops off and there’s a certain buildup of aggravation,” Obama said. “Every little speed bump, conflict trash-talking that takes place is elevated.”
He urged both Democratic candidates to “try to stick to the issues,” adding that the grumpiness often stems from voters’ frustration when the campaign instead becomes dominated by talk about “personalities and character.”
Here’s more about what Obama said about Donald Trump.
Ask about the reaction of world leaders to Trump, Obama said: “The world pays attention to the US elections ... I think it is fair to say that they are surprised by the Republican nominee.
“They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements, but they are rattled by him and for good reason, because a lot of the proposals that he has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually think through what it it that is required to keep America safe and secure and prosperous, and what’s required to keep the world on an even keel.”
On North Korea, Obama said its nuclear ambitions pose a serious medium-term threat, adding that engagement with China and other countries had seen progress on the issue.
He said:
“North Korea is a big worry for all of us. They are not at point right now when they can effectively hit US targets. But each time that they test, even if those tests fail, they learn something. It is clear that ideologically they are convinced and Kim Jong-Un in particular seems to be convinced, that his own legitimacy is tied up with developing nuclear weapons.”
“It’s something that we’ve put at the centre of discussions and negotiations with China.
“What we’ve seen is improved responses from China and countries in the region...that may reduce the risks of North Korea selling weapons or missile material to other countries.”
The bitter legacy of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the US military presence on Okinawa are threatening to cast a shadow over Barack Obama’s last G7 summit as US president, writes Justin McCurry in his latest dispatch from Ise-Shima.
Here’s a recording of most of Obama’s 30 minute remarks to reporters at the summit.
Here’s a transcript of Obama’s remarks about the global economy.
One of the benefits of the G7 is that you have like-minded countries who are committed to democracy, and free markets and international law, and international norms.
So far we have discussed issues of the global economy and the need to continue to accelerate growth. To use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that we are not only putting people back to work but also helping to lift wages and helping to make sure we can maintain the momentum of the recovery that’s taking place in the United States most prominently but also we are starting to see some progress in Europe. The fact that the Greek debt crisis has been resolved for a reasonable length of time, should help, but we have all got a lot of work to do.
We had a chance to talk about trade, not only TTP but also TTIP and we recommitted ourselves to try to finish those negotiations before the end of year. And emphasised the importance of pushing back against either protectionism or competitive currency devaluations or the kinds of beggar-thy-neighbour strategies that all to often lead to everyone being worse off.
Updated
Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said G7 agreed to the need for spending plans to boost world growth, but said they would be flexible, writes Anushka Asthana.
Flexibility on the economy was one of David Cameron’s key desires coming into the summit.
“G7 leaders voiced the view that emerging economies are in a severe situation, although there were views that the current economic situation is not a crisis,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiroshige Seko, said after the first day of a two-day G7 summit in Ise-Shima, central Japan.
On Afghanistan, Obama said: “I wasn’t expecting a liberal democrat to be the new leader of the Taliban. This is an organisation that still sees violence as a way of achieving its goals. There comes a point that the Taliban realises that they not going to be able overrun the country.”
He urged the Taliban to enter reconciliation talks led by the Afghan government. There will come a point eventually where there are those who surround the Taliban community will realise their goals are best served by talks, Obama said.
Obama dodges questions about Clinton’s emails and the release of transcripts over her speeches to Goldman Sachs.
On the Democratic race, Obama claimed “not much” divided Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton ideologically, citing education and health care. He said the only real difference surrounded “tactics”. He added: “They are both good people. Both sides have run serious campaigns.” Obama said every blip in the campaign was “elevated”. On Democrats prospects he added: “Day to day choppiness is not indicative of longer term trends ... the eventual nominee sure wishes it was over. It’s lot more draining arguing against your friends ... these are folks who are serious about solving the country’s problems. They are veterans of the political grind.”
Obama: Trump has 'rattled' world
Obama said the world is “surprised” by the prospect of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president. He added that Trump had “rattled” world leaders. Many of the likely Republican nominee’s proposals display ignorance about world affairs, a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting “tweets and headlines,” Obama added. He contrasted that to proposals to make America safe.
Updated
Pressed about the threat from North Korea, Obama said he has been working on “defence architecture” with the Pentagon to guard against unexpected events.
“North Korea is big worry for all us,” Obama said. They can’t yet reach US targets, he added, but said: “Each time they test they learn something.”
Asked about his visit to Hiroshima on Friday, Obama said: “The dropping of the atomic bomb was an inflexion point in modern history. It is something that all of us have had to deal with. The backdrop of a nuclear event presses against our imaginations.”
He says we should all have a “sense of urgency” about the threat of nuclear war. “The job is not done, in reducing conflict and building institutes for peace,” he said.
But he described the nuclear deal with Iran as a “big piece of business”.
Barack Obama is giving a press conference at the summit. He says there has been “some progress” towards economic recovery in Europe. He said the Greek debt crisis has eased but there is still a lot of economic work to do.
Obama said the leaders agreed to try to get a deal on TTIP and TTP before the end of the year. He also warned against “protectionism”.
Updated
Johnson responds to Juncker
Johnson was played a clip of Juncker’s remarks on Sky News. He replied:
“I’m afraid what I’m saying to the British people is in line with reality. If we vote to remain ... then they will go on with measures to take us further into a federal European super state ... The whole exercise in Brussels is now aimed at propping up the Euro.
“They will try to create a fiscal union, a political union. Germany who is effectively the paymaster of this whole enterprise will want to insist that there is an economic governance of Europe that in my view become – it is already profoundly undemocratic, but it will tend towards the creation of united states of Europe into which Britain will inevitably be sucked by the usage of single market mechanism.
“And I’m afraid we have not be able to get out of the obligation of paying for this whole exercise.”
Updated
Boris Johnson is being interviewed on Sky News. He hasn’t been asked about Juncker’s remarks yet.
The European Commission has published a transcript of Jean-Claude Juncker’s remarks at the summit including his barbed comments about Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson.
Q4 Mister President, what would you advise to Boris Johnson - should we stay in the EU?
President Juncker: The general atmosphere of our talks would be better if Britain is staying in the European Union. I am reading in British papers that Boris Johnson spent part of his life in Brussels. It is time for him to come back to Brussels, in order to check in Brussels if everything he is telling the British people is in line with reality - I do not think so. So, he would be welcome in Brussels at any time.
Updated
PA’s political editor Andrew Woodcock say that David Cameron and the other G7 leaders are believed to be the first sitting heads of their countries to visit the Ise-Jingu Grand Shrine.
Welcoming Cameron to Japan, Shinzo Abe described Ise - which has remained a popular pilgrimage site - as “a place dear to Japanese hearts”.
Cameron and the other leaders - US president Barack Obama, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande of France, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Italy’s Matteo Renzi - were granted access to the inner part of the shrine, which is normally out of bounds to everyone but the site’s priests and distinguished visitors.
After a brief cleansing ceremony with holy water, Cameron planted a Japanese cedar tree with President Hollande and Mr Trudeau, using shovels handed to them by schoolchildren from the Mie Prefecture.
The G7 leaders then signed individual visitor books, with Cameron writing: “It is a great pleasure to visit this place of peace, tranquillity and natural beauty as we gather in Ise-Shima for Japan’s G7, and to pay my respects as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the Ise-Jingu.”
The second working session - a discussion on trade - is underway. It will include talks on the controversial trade agreement TTIP or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Now trade session at #G7: .@JunckerEU calls for ambitious, but balanced EU trade agreements with Japan, Canada + US pic.twitter.com/fAa5ayxQvZ
— Martin Selmayr (@MartinSelmayr) May 26, 2016
Chllr #Merkel + Pres. @BarackObama during 2nd working session at the #G7Summit. #G7 #IseShima @g7 MT @RegSprecher pic.twitter.com/68pkHu7Yjm
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) May 26, 2016
For more on the EU referendum debate and the future of Tata steel, Andy Sparrow has just launched today’s Politics Live.
The host of the summit Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe has warned of an economic crisis on the scale of 2008, according to Reuters citing a Nikkei report.
Abe presented data at an opening session showing that commodities prices have fallen 55% since 2014, the same margin they fell during the global financial crisis, the newspaper said, interpreting this as “warning of the re-emergence of a Lehman-scale crisis”.
Abe has pledged to raise Japan’s sales tax to 10% from 8% in April next year as planned, unless there is a financial crisis on the scale of the Lehman collapse or a major natural disaster.
“G7 leaders voiced the view that emerging economies are in a severe situation, although there were views that the current economic situation is not a crisis,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko told reporters at the summit.
Abe told the group that they shared the view on the risks to the global economy, Seko said.
Summary
The first day of the G7 summit in Japan has so far been overshadowed by a row over Brexit, with statements from the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and his senior aide bringing the issue of the UK’s EU membership to the forefront of the discussions:
- Juncker dragged prominent Brexit campaigner and former London mayor Boris Johnson into the talks in Ise-Shima, saying Johnson’s claims about the EU were not “in line with reality”.
- His aide and head of cabinet, Martin Selmayr, then stoked the row by tweeting about the “horror scenario” of a 2017 G7 meeting with Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Johnson around the leaders’ table.
- Meanwhile, the summit continued with the group of seven leaders set to discuss the global economy, steel, terrorism and the refugee crisis, in a wide-ranging agenda.
- Earlier, the leaders attended the Ise Jingu shrine – a choice of location that drawn criticism that Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is attempting to use the shrine to promote his conservative political agenda.
I’m now handing over this live blog to my colleague Matthew Weaver in London for continuing coverage of Thursday’s summit. I will be back on Friday to cover day two, including US president Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima. Thanks for reading.
The first session is over. There will be a side event on terror attacks against cultural artefacts. David Cameron has been strolling and chatting with Barack Obama, and is about to head to a restaurant for a drink.
A Downing Street adviser said it was a “very friendly chat” with the president.
There will be another side event focusing on trade.
A popular request from below the line:
Initially David Cameron appeared to be missing from the line-up – but here he is, better late than never:
One of the most senior officials in the EU has warned that having Boris Johnson as British prime minister would be a “horror scenario”.
Tweeting from the G7 summit, Martin Selmayr, who is chief of staff to the European Commission president, lumped Johnson in with France’s Marine Le Pen and the US Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
“#G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? A horror scenario that shows well why it is worth fighting populism. #withJuncker,” he wrote, in a provocative message that could trigger a backlash in Britain.
A not particularly diplomatic tweet from Martin Selmayr, Juncker’s head of cabinet and righthand man, who describes a potential 2017 G7 meeting convening Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Boris Johnson and Beppe Grillo, leader of Italy’s Five Star Movement, as “a horror scenario”:
#G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? A horror scenario that shows well why it is worth fighting populism. #withJuncker
— Martin Selmayr (@MartinSelmayr) May 26, 2016
Along with this warning from the account of Donald Tusk:
G7 needs to be tough in defending common values. Questioned by states outside but also by opponents from within pic.twitter.com/UBoQsk7seq
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) May 26, 2016
What's on the agenda
The economy
The precarious state of the global economy – and the slowing of growth in China – will be top of the agenda over the next two days.
The G7 leaders are not united on the best way to tackle the issue. As Agence France-Press reports:
One side, led by Japan, favours spending: government stimulus. The other, led by Germany, thinks the fiscal largesse of recent years needs to be brought under control …
Expect a final statement that supports a bit of both stimulus and austerity, but offers a firm rebuke on currency manipulation.
Brexit
Also up for discussion, although not on the official agenda, is Britain’s upcoming referendum – looming on 23 June – on whether to stay within or leave the European Union.
As Justin McCurry reports:
For David Cameron, who went straight into talks with Abe and Obama after touching down in Japan on Wednesday night, the summit will be an opportunity to win backing for his campaign to keep Britain in the EU, less than a month before the Brexit referendum.
Abe and Obama have already voiced concern over a possible Brexit, but a unanimous show of support for Cameron, while unlikely to appear in the communiqué, would make the long journey from London to Japan seem worthwhile.
The issue has already caused a stir on the sidelines of the summit, with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker accusing pro-Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson of making claims about the EU that are not “in line with reality”.
Terrorism
A pressing issue after attacks in Brussels and Paris, leaders are likely to want to present a strong, united front against the threat. Justin Trudeau might also raise the plight of a Canadian hostage held by militant group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines – in particular Canada’s resolve, backed by the UK, that ransoms should not be paid to extremists.
Refugees
A key concern for European leaders, with European Council president Donald Tusk saying he had come to Japan to seek international support to ease the crisis:
If we [at G7] do not take the lead in managing this crisis, nobody would.
China
China is not represented at the G7 summit, but the reach of Beijing will certainly feature, whether in discussion about the global economy or concerns over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Already this week, Barack Obama has said Washington supports Vietnam’s territorial claims against Beijing in the South China Sea and – without mentioning China by name – warned:
Big nations should not bully smaller ones.
David Cameron also warned China that it must abide by the outcome of international arbitration on its increasingly assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea – the cause of bitter disputes with the Philippines and other countries in the region.
G7 host Japan is also embroiled in ongoing rows over disputed territory in the East China Sea.
And this was before news broke today that China is poised to send nuclear-armed submarines into the Pacific.
Updated
A Downing Street source has responded to Jean-Claude Juncker’s comments on Boris Johnson’s Brexit claims:
Our view on Boris is that we think that he is wrong, we don’t agree with him. So far neither the out campaign nor Boris Johnson have been able to articulate what getting out of the EU looks like.
And here’s what they ate during that working lunch: lobster, beef and manju (a kind of cake made with bean paste).
TJI what the G7 leaders had for lunch: Ise lobster, dashimaki tamago, Matsuzaka beef with shiitake, rice, miso soup, manju for dessert, sake
— Yuri Kageyama (@yurikageyama) May 26, 2016
Another shot of the assembled leaders, this time at their opening working lunch session, complete with handy table signs telling each other what nation they’ve come from:
Ahead of the traditionally awkward traditional group photo, expected later on Thursday afternoon, we have this equally awkward tree-planting image. It’s safe to say nobody here looks entirely comfortable with a shovel.
They’re planting Japanese cedar trees close to the inner Naiku shrine at Ise Jingu.
It is not clear why David Cameron and Justin Trudeau have had to share a sapling.
As the talks begin in earnest, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi tweets about the Italians saving lives at sea – on Wednesday, the Italian navy saved 550 refugees after a vessel capsized in the Mediterranean.
Arrivato a Ise-Shima, porto al tavolo leader #G7 l’orgoglio e la dignità degli italiani che salvano le vite in mare pic.twitter.com/LSFGUgJSd8
— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) May 26, 2016
The refugee crisis is on the agenda at G7, with Donald Tusk earlier saying he had come to Japan to seek international support:
If we [at G7] do not take the lead in managing this crisis, nobody would.
As the G7 leaders come to the conclusion of their working lunch – and ahead of the traditional group photo – Donald Tusk, the European Council president, has been speaking on the sidelines of the summit about China and Russia.
(Russia has not been invited to the meetings of what was once the G8 for two years, since its annexation of Crimea.)
Tusk said the Crimea issue, as well as China’s activities in the South and East China Seas, were problems on which the G7 ought to take a “clear and tough stance”.
The test of our credibility at the G7 is our ability to defend the common values that we share.
This test will only pass if we take a clear and tough stance on every topic of our discussions here … I refer in particular to the issue of maritime security and the South and East China Seas, and Russia-Ukraine issue.
If we are to defend our common values it is not enough these days to only believe in them. We also have to be ready to protect them.
The policy of the G7 is clear: any maritime or territorial claim should be based on international law and any territorial dispute should be resolved by peaceful means.
Unilateral action and the use of force or coercion will not be accepted.
The European Union and the entire G7 continue to believe that this crisis can only be resolved in full compliance with … international law, especially the legal obligation to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
I want to state clearly that our stance vis-a-vis Russia, including economic sanctions, will remain unchanged as long as the Minsk agreements are not fully implemented.
Unfortunately there is much less progress on the implementation of Minsk than we had hoped for one year ago.
(All quotes via AFP.)
For those interested in background reading:
With the G7 leaders expected to continue their support of David Cameron’s argument that Britain should stay in the EU, the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has hit back at criticism of his own position, arguing he is on a “unity ticket” with Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and John Key.
A British Conservative MP, Andrew Rosindell, who sits on the foreign affairs select committee, has argued Turnbull’s position against Brexit is “ridiculous”, saying:
Australia would never countenance signing away permanent legal power over its rules, its laws, its traditions to other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Come on Malcolm, when are you going to do your political union with Indonesia or Japan? When are you going to have free movement with Asia?
It’s absolutely in Australia’s interests that Britain leaves the EU, so that we can have free trade agreements, we can have more free movement, so we can work together.
On the campaign trail in Rockhampton on Thursday, Turnbull hit back, pointing out that he holds the same position as the US president and prime ministers of Canada and New Zealand:
We all believe that our countries benefit from Britain being part of the EU. So it is to our advantage if Britain is part of the EU. They are part of a big market and they’re a good friend to have there.
But it is a matter for British people and I am on a unity ticket with those other leaders that I’ve mentioned and many others. But it is a matter for the British people.
The global steel industry crisis is high on the agenda in Ise-Shima, with G7 leaders set to discuss how to deal with China’s dumping of surplus steel.
British prime minister David Cameron has said the summit was an opportunity to tackle the crisis in Europe’s steel industry, saying EU tariffs had proved “effective” against market distortions caused by China’s selling of surplus steel at low prices:
Wherever we have taken action, there has been very steep – 90%-plus – reductions in Chinese steel imports.
This is a good opportunity to talk again with the European Commission and the president of the Council and France, Germany and Italy about the actions we are taking in Europe to put tariffs up against dumping of Chinese steel, which is effective.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU was ready to step up its defence of the industry:
Global overcapacity in the steel sector is of great concern to Europeans. It has cost Europe thousands of jobs since 2008 and the over-capacity in China alone has been estimated at almost double European annual production.
So we will make it clear that we will step up our trade defence measures. This effort has started and as far as the market economy status for China is concerned, we will discuss this in detail. The European Union has launched an in-depth impact assessment and when this impact assessment is finished, we can deliver in the best way possible.
Everyone has to know that if somebody distorts the market, Europe cannot be defenceless.
China to send nuclear-armed submarines into Pacific
With China not at the table in Ise, but certainly on the agenda, news that the Chinese military is poised to send submarines armed with nuclear missiles into the Pacific Ocean for the first time will no doubt resonate at the G7 summit.
As the Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, reports:
Until now, Beijing has pursued a cautious deterrence policy, declaring it would never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict and storing its warheads and its missiles separately, both strictly under the control of the top leadership.
Deploying nuclear-armed submarines would have far-reaching implications.
Warheads and missiles would be put together and handed over to the navy, allowing a nuclear weapon to be launched much faster if such a decision was taken. The start of Chinese missile patrols could further destabilise the already tense strategic standoff with the US in the South China Sea.
Read the full report here:
So far, anti-G7 protests have been virtually non-existent, bar a small demonstration in Shima on Wednesday morning. This is partly because of the large police presence, but also the location of the summit, which is being held in a relatively remote part of Japan – the venue for the meetings is a hotel in the middle of an island.
But there has been a demonstration today outside the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of Obama’s planned visit to Hiroshima on Friday.
As AFP reports:
A group representing Korean victims of the US atomic bombings of Japan protested on Thursday that their suffering was being neglected ahead of Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima.
The Association of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims estimates that anywhere between 40,000 and 70,000 Koreans died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when atomic bombs laid waste to the two cities in August 1945.
The Korean peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule at the time, and most of those who died had been conscripted by the Japanese military or forced into hard labour.
Consequently, the association argues that Koreans were multiple victims, deserving not only of an apology from the United States, but also from Japan.
Around two dozen members of the group – including survivors and relatives of those who died – gathered outside the US embassy in Seoul with placards reading: “Apologise to Korean victims of the Atomic Bomb” and “Acknowledge the 2nd generation victims”.
“The world thinks Japan is the atomic bomb victim. That is wrong. Japan is the country that began the war. Koreans are the victims of the atomic bomb,” said Shim Jin-Tae, who was two years old and in Hiroshima when the first bomb fell.
Some details coming through of the leaders’ time in the Ise Jingu shrine, where each of the visiting politicians were greeted by the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
The leaders were taken to the inner Naiku shrine – reserved for distinguished visitors only – where they underwent a cleansing ceremony.
British prime minister David Cameron, French president François Hollande and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau then planted a Japanese cedar tree, helped by schoolchildren from the Mie prefecture.
The ceremonies then switched to the signing of the visitor books, in which Cameron wrote:
It is a great pleasure to visit this place of peace, tranquillity and natural beauty as we gather in Ise Shima for Japan’s G7, and to pay my respects as prime minister of the United Kingdom at the Ise Jingu.
While the G7 leaders begin their talks on Thursday afternoon, their spouses are due to visit Mikimoto pearl island in the nearby town of Toba, where they will watch a demonstration by Japan’s female free divers.
Ama – women who dive without breathing apparatus to scour the seabed for shellfish – say their traditional way of life is threatened by falling seafood stocks and a lack of interest among younger women in learning the skill.
Akie Abe, the wife of the Japanese prime minister, will lead the trip. She recently described the ama as the embodiment of Japanese values.
Juncker: Boris Johnson Brexit claims not 'in line with reality'
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, has called on Boris Johnson – the former London mayor and high profile Brexit campaigner – to come to Brussels and see whether his view of the EU fits with “reality”.
Juncker also warned that if Johnson became prime minister in the UK, his discussions with European partners may be strained.
Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit in Japan, Juncker said:
I’m reading in [the] papers that Boris Johnson spent part of his life in Brussels. It’s time for him to come back to Brussels, in order to check in Brussels if everything he’s telling British people is in line with reality.
I don’t think so, so he would be welcome in Brussels at any time.
Asked whether the European institutions would be able to work with Johnson if he took over in Downing Street, he replied:
The atmosphere of our talks would be better if Britain is staying in the European Union.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European council who is also at the G7 summit, added:
We have to respect every democratic decision, the result of the referendum and possible political consequences of the referendum.
But I think it’s quite normal to have normal relations with politicians and at the same time to have your own opinion about their opinions.
Updated
The leaders are due to be treated this afternoon to a display of self-driving cars. What could possibly go wrong?
G7 Int’l Media Center features test drive area for #nextgen cars & personal mobility devices, robot taxi service! pic.twitter.com/wmExla7Zl7
— G7 (@g7) May 26, 2016
A Cameron adviser tells me that while Europe is not on the agenda we can expect it to be raised in the margins.
The British prime minister highlighted that all the G7 leaders have expressed their view on Brexit – and all have suggested it would damage the world economy – but he may be looking for more support while in Japan. Angela Merkel hadn’t said much for a long time.
The PM told me that his priorities while here were the fight against Daesh (Isis) in Syria and Iraq, antimicrobial resistance – which he said was a priority for him – as well as maintaining pressure on Russia over the Minsk agreement and anti-corruption.
The British prime minister David Cameron is leading a session on trade after lunch on Thursday, at which they are likely to discuss Chinese dumping of steel.
Cameron said he was particularly keen to focus on talks with the presidents of the European Commission and Council, and the leaders of France, Germany and Italy on what more can be done on tariffs.
The venue for the summit, Ise-Shima, is in lockdown. About 23,000 police officers have been deployed in areas near the venue, where many restaurants and businesses have also closed for the duration of the summit.
Residents have been encouraged not to venture out, and some schools cancelled classes in anticipation of congestion caused by traffic restrictions.
Several ships from the maritime self-defence force – Japan’s navy – have been deployed off the coast of the summit venue, including the Izumo, the country’s largest destroyer, according to Kyodo News. The Japan coastguard has sent 100 smaller vessels out on patrol.
The security effort has even spread as far as Tokyo – 300km away – where 19,000 police officers have been mobilised. Lockers and rubbish bins have been sealed in and around major railway stations in the capital.
On the agenda
The economy
The precarious state of the global economy – and the slowing of growth in China – will be top of the agenda over the next two days.
The G7 leaders are not as one on the best way to tackle the issue. As Agence France-Press reports:
One side, led by Japan, favours spending - government stimulus. The other, led by Germany, thinks the fiscal largesse of recent years needs to be brought under control …
Expect a final statement that supports a bit of both stimulus and austerity, but offers a firm rebuke on currency manipulation.
Brexit
Also up for discussion is Britain’s upcoming referendum – looming on 23 June – on whether to stay within or leave the European Union.
As Justin McCurry reports:
For David Cameron, who went straight into talks with Abe and Obama after touching down in Japan on Wednesday night, the summit will be an opportunity to win backing for his campaign to keep Britain in the EU, less than a month before the Brexit referendum.
Abe and Obama have already voiced concern over a possible Brexit, but a unanimous show of support for Cameron, while unlikely to appear in the communiqué, would make the long journey from London to Japan seem worthwhile.
Terrorism
A pressing issue after attacks in Brussels and Paris, leaders are likely to want to present a strong, united front against the threat. Justin Trudeau might also raise the plight of a Canadian hostage held by militant group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines – in particular Canada’s resolve, backed by the UK, that ransoms should not be paid to extremists.
Refugees
A key concern for European leaders, with European Council president Donald Tusk saying he had come to Japan to seek international support to ease the crisis:
If we [at G7] do not take the lead in managing this crisis, nobody would.
China
China is not represented at the G7 summit, but the reach of Beijing will certainly feature, whether in discussion about the global economy or concerns over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Already this week, Barack Obama has said Washington supports Vietnam’s territorial claims against Beijing in the South China Sea and – without mentioning China by name – warned:
Big nations should not bully smaller ones.
David Cameron also warned China that it must abide by the outcome of international arbitration on its increasingly assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea – the cause of bitter disputes with the Philippines and other countries in the region.
G7 host Japan is also embroiled in ongoing rows over disputed territory in the East China Sea.
Updated
What happens next?
Leaders of the Group of Seven countries should begin their summit in central Japan today feeling spiritually cleansed after their morning visit to Ise Jingu, Japan’s most sacred Shinto shrine.
Their trip to the shrine, set in a 2,000-year-old forest, risked sparking the first controversy of the summit, with academics and other religious groups warning that Shinzo Abe could use the presence of Obama, Cameron and co at the site to further his conservative political agenda.
After their morning stroll, discussions among the leaders of Japan, the US, the UK, Italy, Canada, France and Germany will quickly turn to the parlous state of the global economy – although one of the chief countries of concern, China, will not be present, of course.
There is disagreement on how to pull the global economy out of its difficulties, with Japan persevering with a combination of pump-priming and monetary easing, while counties such as Britain retain their faith in austerity.
There is little agreement on how to tackle recent fluctuations in the currency markets, with the US opposed to attempts by Japan to weaken the yen and give its exporters some much-needed breathing space.
In the end, the G7 leaders will probably make do with a diplomatic fudge. With agreement on concerted action unlikely, the communiqué, due to be released on Friday, is expected to encourage flexibility and allow member states to adapt economic policies to their own circumstances in the search for growth.
Obama has arrived, pausing to wave at the kindergarten children lined up to wield flags at the leaders.
Now he and Abe cross the bridge together for what will be Obama’s final G7 summit.
We – and Shinzo Abe – are still waiting for President Obama to arrive at the shrine.
In the meantime, here’s an earlier image of French president François Hollande crossing the Ujibashi bridge, which symbolises leaving the temporal world and entering the spiritual one.
All the leaders bar Obama have now arrived at the shrine – the US president is expected imminently and he will cross the bridge into Ise Jingu alongside Abe.
The official G7 programme has begun with a visit to Ise Jingu shrine on an overcast and humid morning in central Japan.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was greeted by Ise Jingu’s head priest priest at shrine entrance.
Abe and other world leaders will cross Ujibashi bridge, leaving the temporal world and entering the spiritual on their way to the revered centre of Japan’s indigenous Shinto religion.
A gravel path will taken them to main sanctuary, home of Amaterasu Omikami, the mythological empress from whom all Japanese emperors are said to be descended, although they will not be permitted to enter the inner sanctuary itself.
Japanese officials said the leaders would not be taking part in any religious rituals. The idea, said a foreign ministry spokesman, is to give them a sense of the “air, water, nature and atmosphere” of the shrine.
“Ise is the place to present the beauty of nature and the richness of our culture and long tradition,” the spokesman said.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, has arrived – along with Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, he is at the summit to represent the EU alongside the G7 leaders.
G7 summit begins at Ise Jingu shrine
The leaders are now being welcomed at the Ise Jingu shrine by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
This marks the official start of the G7 summit.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau seems to be displaying his sensitive side - post-elbowgate - since arriving in Japan on Monday. He and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary – which is actually on Saturday – on Tuesday with a trip to Meiji Shrine in Tokyo and a night at a traditional ryokan inn.
Yesterday they went hiking in a forest near the G7 summit venue. Trudeau told reporters:
This is the kind of work-life balance that I’ve often talked about as being essential in order to be able to be in service of the country with all one’s very best, and that’s certainly something I’m going to continue to make sure we do.
All seven leader have now arrived, with German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi landing in Japan this morning:
British prime minister David Cameron arrived earlier and has already held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe:
Obama and Abe have already held a press conference in which the US president expressed his “deepest regrets and condolences” over the suspected rape and murder of a Japanese woman by a worker at a US military base on the island of Okinawa.
The two leaders agreed steps would be taken to address crimes by US military and American base workers on Okinawa.
Earlier this week, Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a worker at the US Kadena airbase, was arrested in connection with the death of Rina Shimabukuro.
As my colleague Justin McCurry reports, the attack – which Abe labelled a “despicable crime” – could have wider implications for US-Japanese relations:
The case could frustrate the controversial relocation of a US marine base on Okinawa, which hosts more than half the 47,000 US troops in Japan and 75% of its bases.
Most Okinawans oppose plans, agreed by Tokyo and Washington two decades ago, to move Futenma base from its current location in the middle of a densely populated town to a remote coastal area. The plan would require the construction of a new offshore runway that local people say would destroy the local ecosystem and increase the risk of accidents.
Both leaders vowed to reduce the military burden on Okinawa, but there was no commitment to amending the status of forces agreement, which can make it difficult for Japanese authorities to investigate and prosecute crimes involving US servicemen and base workers.
Talks between the seven leaders begin after the visit to the shrine, over lunch at the Shima Kanko hotel.
This afternoon they will watch a demonstration of driverless and fuel-cell vehicles.
The “family photo” opportunity mid-afternoon – expect to see the leaders don some kind of traditional clothing – will be followed by further talks until early evening, when the first day wraps up with cocktails and a working dinner.
The agenda for Thursday begins with all seven leaders visiting the Ise Jingu shrine; that will be around 11am local time (just over an hour from now).
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is one of the shrine’s most fervent devotees and its location nearby is thought to be one of the reasons behind the decision to host the summit in Ise-Shima, Justin McCurry reports:
That Ise Jingu, actually a collection of 125 shrines dating back 2,000 years, is a place of beauty and contemplation is beyond dispute. But its role at the heart of the Abe-led Shinto revival would make a G7 leaders’ visit more than a carefree stroll admiring the shrine’s sprawling ancient forest and crystal-clear river.
Abe and most members of his cabinet are members of the Shinto Seiji Renmei (Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership), an influential lobbying group that counts more than 300 MPs among its members. The association has called for the removal of pacifist elements from Japan’s US-authored constitution – a key Abe policy goal – increased reverence for the emperor, and a state-sponsored ceremony to honour Japan’s war dead at Yasukuni, a controversial war shrine in Tokyo.
The choice of venue is “very closely connected” to Abe’s strong ideological connections with Shinto and its revisionist political agenda, said John Breen, a professor of Japanese history at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. It is “a perfect fit with his active involvement with the Shinto Seiji Renmei, and its aim of bringing Shinto into the heart of government”, Breen added.
While Abe has stayed away from Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo since his controversial pilgrimage there in December 2013, his frequent to Ise Jingu have formed the spiritual – and political – backdrop to his three-and-half years in office.
Read the full report here:
Updated
Welcome to the first of our two days of live coverage of the G7 meeting in Ise-Shima, Japan.
The leaders of seven countries – US president Barack Obama, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, German chancellor Angela Merkel, UK prime minister David Cameron, French president François Hollande, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi – will meet on Thursday and Friday for two days of talks on a wide-ranging agenda including:
- the global economy and trade
- international terrorism
- the refugee crisis
- climate change
- North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme
-
Chinese claims in the South China Sea
On Friday, Obama will make history as the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where he will lay flowers at a cenotaph to the 140,000 people who died after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945.
We will have live coverage here as events unfold. I will also post key updates on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.
The Guardian has two correspondents at the G7 summit: Japan and Korea correspondent Justin McCurry and political editor Anushka Asthana. You can follow them too: @justinmccurry and @GuardianAnushka.
Oh gods!
Claire, is it possible to have another picture of the depiction of the G7 summit leaders as comic superheros... And especially the one representing Cameron?