THE Group of Seven, or the G7, has decided to sail full steam into the troubled waters of the South China Sea.

In a communiqué after meeting in Toronto last Sunday, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Britain declared their “strong opposition to any unilateral actions that escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the international rules-based order, such as the threat or use of force, large-scale land reclamation and building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes.”