China Slams US 'Small Circle' Diplomacy Ahead Of G7 Summit

Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's chief diplomat, told Antony Blinken that "genuine multilateralism is not pseudo-multilateralism based on the interests of small circles".

A top Chinese diplomat on Friday condemned Washington's "small circle" diplomacy, state media reported, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as G7 leaders met for their first in-person summit in nearly two years. Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's chief diplomat, told Blinken that "genuine multilateralism is not pseudo-multilateralism based on the interests of small circles". "The only genuine multilateralism is that founded on the principles of the charter of the United Nations and international law," Yang told Blinken, in their first one-on-one talks since acrimonious China-US discussions in Anchorage in March. The call came as the leaders of the G7 group -- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Japan -- met Friday in Cornwall, England, with the challenge posed by China top of the agenda.