OSAKA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on the Group of 20 summit meetings in Osaka, Japan (all times local):
1:50 p.m.
Pro-democracy activists are urging Group of 20 leaders at the summit in Osaka to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to improve the human rights of his people, including minorities and those in Hong Kong.
Three activists from China, Hong Kong and southern Mongolia are urging the leaders to use trade and the economy as leverage to pressure China to address human rights problems. They also plan to stage rallies in Osaka, where Xi will be attending the June 28-29 summit.
Xi will hold talks Saturday with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Andy Chan Ho-tin from Hong Kong called for sanctions on both pro-Beijing leaders in his region and China to protect freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. Thousands protested in Hong Kong recently to oppose a bill that would allow extradition of criminal suspects to mainland.
___
1:15 p.m.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged fellow world leaders to cooperate in responding to intensifying trade and political tensions to help fend off threats to world economic growth and stability.
Abe made the comments at the outset of a Group of 20 summit in Osaka, where the leaders planned to first focus their discussions Friday on the world economy and trade.
He says a “free and open” economy is crucial for peace and prosperity and retaliatory moves in trade conflicts would not benefit any country.
The two-day summit began with an extra meeting devoted to endorsing Abe’s “Osaka Track” effort to promote rules for e-commerce to help control cybersecurity risks and promote growth.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump joined Abe in outlining the concerns posed by the so-called “digital economy.”
___
11:20 a.m.
The U.N. chief says the world can’t afford the conflict as tensions rise between Iran and the United States.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the sidelines of the two-day G-20 leaders’ summit Friday that it is “essential to deescalate the situation” and avoid confrontation.
His comments come as Iran is poised to surpass a key uranium stockpile threshold, threatening an accord it reached in 2015 with world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear activity.
The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on Iran to cripple its economy, sent an aircraft carrier to the region and deployed more troops alongside the tens of thousands already there.
___
11 a.m.
Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have called for joint efforts to stabilize international trade and oppose protectionism.
The leaders of BRICS grouping, who met Friday in Osaka on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, also called for strengthening the role of the World Trade Organization.
In an apparent reference to trade wars with the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping criticized “unilateral and protectionist measures that ruin the global order” and urged the BRICS countries to strengthen their joint efforts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has been hurt by an array of the U.S. and the EU sanctions, said at the meeting that “the international trade has suffered from protectionism, politically motivated restrictions and barriers.”
Putin also emphasized the need for BRICS nations to take coordinated action to help block sources of funding for terrorist groups.
He pointed at Russia’s campaign in Syria, emphasizing the need to rebuild the country and encourage the refugees to return.
___
10:50 a.m.
European Union President Donald Tusk has blasted a reported comment by Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting that liberalism is obsolete.
Tusk said Friday that such comments suggest a belief that “freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete.”
Putin said in an interview published by the newspaper Financial Times that “The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population.”
Both leaders are in Osaka for a G-20 summit.
Tusk’s statement to reporters said, “We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy.”
He said, “What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective.”
___
8 a.m.
The U.N. chief is urging G-20 leaders to take action on equitable and stable reforms to strengthen the global financial safety net and increase the global economy’s resilience.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to leaders gathered in Osaka, Japan, for the two-day summit beginning Friday that while the world has made progress fixing some big problems it’s not happening fast enough or shared by all countries.
Guterres said that while there are good plans and vision, what’s needed are “accelerated actions, not more deliberations.”
He says that fast and equal economic growth should be constructed so that people who live in “the ‘rust belts’ of the world are not left behind.”
