Top G7 diplomats express deep concern over PLA drills around Taiwan

Washington, April 6 (CNA) G7 countries' top diplomats have expressed concern over the recent military exercises conducted by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, saying they intensified risks to regional and global security.

In a joint statement posted Sunday on the U.S. State Department website, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union expressed "deep concern about China's provocative actions, particularly the recent large-scale military drills around Taiwan."

"These increasingly frequent and destabilizing activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity," it said.

The statement said G7 countries and the international community as a whole "have an interest in the preservation of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

G7 members "oppose any unilateral actions to threaten such peace and stability, including by force or coercion" and continue to encourage "the peaceful resolution of issues through constructive cross-Strait dialogue," it concluded.

The PLA's Eastern Theater Command held its latest exercises in waters around Taiwan on April 1 and 2.

The two-day exercises served as "a stern warning" to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement.