G7 = A meeting of trade ministers from seven major countries was held to put together a joint statement with China in mind, stating that they would "share concerns about forced labor by the state."
This is the first time that the G7 has put together a joint statement on forced labor, and it seems that the major countries are united to show their willingness to seek improvement from the Chinese side.
The G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting was held online on the night of the 22nd with the attendance of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagita, and was the first G7 to make a joint statement on forced labor.
According to it, while avoiding the name of China, he said, "We will share concerns about forced labor such as minorities carried out by the state" with the human rights issue of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in mind.
He added that about 25 million people worldwide are exposed to forced labor, "calling all countries and businesses to work together to eradicate forced labor from the international supply chain."
The background to the compilation of the joint statement seems to be the aim of showing the willingness of the major countries to unite and call on the Chinese side to improve the problem.
On the other hand, Japan's call to prevent each country from taking sudden import restrictions due to human rights issues has also included efforts to help companies see the future of their businesses.
The meeting also discussed the free distribution of data across national borders, and another statement stating that companies expanding overseas should not be required to disclose the "source code" that is the blueprint for software. I also summarized.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagita "The greatest achievement of issuing a statement of independence for the first time"
After the meeting, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagiuda told reporters, "As a G7, we shared serious concerns about forced labor. The biggest achievement was that the G7 issued its first statement of independence to eliminate forced labor. That's it. "
In addition, based on the content of the joint statement that companies will work to foresee the future of business so that each country will not take sudden import restriction measures due to human rights issues, "International cooperation to increase the predictability of each country's measures, I said that we should proceed with the improvement of the environment, such as creating a system, and obtained approval. "