China officially says 'US seriously ill'; asks 'when did G7 become political bloc?'

Days after members of the Group of Seven (G7) pledged to counter and compete with China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry returned fire and asked when the Group of Seven had become a political bloc that drew a line based on ideology. In the recently concluded G7 summit at Cornwall, the leaders of the member countries had vowed to promote their values by urging China to respect human rights and that the G7 would "consult on collective approaches to challenging non-market policies and practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy."

China takes jibe at US after G7 summit

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying took to Twitter to note that the inception of the G7 was to facilitate shared macroeconomic initiatives in response to contemporary economic issues. Taking a jibe at the US, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson claimed that America had fallen seriously ill and asked why the G7 wasn't providing much-needed treatment to the US. 

Earlier on Tuesday, China denounced the Group of Seven's communique expressing concerns about Beijing's economic behaviour and alleged human rights abuses, and condemned a NATO statement that declared Beijing a "security challenge". China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian described the G-7 communique as "deliberately slandering China" and "interfering in China's internal affairs". Zhao was speaking at a daily briefing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday afternoon.

"It exposes the bad intention of the U.S. and a few other countries to artificially create confrontation and widen differences," Zhao said.

"The U.S. is ill, very ill, and the Group of Seven had better take its pulse and give it a prescription," Zhao added.

G7 leaders vow to counter and compete with China

The Group of Seven (G7) leaders had rallied around the need to “counter and compete” with China on the emerging challenges including threats to democracy and the global race of technology. World’s developed nations met in Cornwall from June 11 to June 13 and discussed other issues such as climate change, global minimum tax among other common challenges. 

Specifically, on China, the G7 meeting was “a significant move forward from where the G7 has ever been before and reflects a growing convergence that wasn't there a few years ago,” said White House national security adviser Jack Sullivan reportedly aboard Air Force One on its way to Brussels.

The White House national security adviser said, "There is a broad view that China represents a significant challenge to the world's democracies," Sullivan said, adding that leaders agreed the need for a common agenda in addressing China, including elements where they would "stand up and counter and compete."

"Words like counter and compete were words coming out of the mouths of every leader in the room, not just Joe Biden," he added.