China and NATO

[Randy W]

Nato leaders slam China for Russia ties and Taiwan threats in sternest rebuke to date

• Joint statement by alliance’s 31 members accuses Beijing of opaquely building up its military power and undercutting rules-based international order
• But Nato’s cooperation with ‘Asia-Pacific 4’ falters in Vilnius as France quashes Japan’s bid for liaison office in Tokyo

from the SCMP

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference during a Nato meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
 

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Nato issued its strongest rebuke of China to date on Tuesday, lashing out at its “coercive policies” and “deepening strategic partnership” with Russia.

A joint communique agreed by the military alliance’s 31 member states addressed Beijing at length, accusing it of opaquely building up its military power, “amplifying Russia’s false narrative” on the war in Ukraine, and using its economic might to “create strategic dependencies and enhance its influence”.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

China hits back against Nato’s ‘eastward march’ as Indo-Pacific leaders and alliance members meet at summit

• Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea attend second day of security alliance meeting in Vilnius, prompting response from Beijing
• Tokyo and Nato agree to partner on security and cyber defence, while Japanese officials say they still have hopes for vetoed liaison office

from the SCMP

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Nato summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday. Photo: Nato/dpa

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Nato drew four Indo-Pacific countries tighter into its orbit on Wednesday, as China hit back against the security alliance’s “eastward march”.
Leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea met Nato’s 31 members in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on the second day of the alliance’s annual summit, with China firmly on the agenda.

Ahead of the talks, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that “in the current severe international security environment the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable”.

“Japan and Nato share understanding that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion will not be tolerated, regardless of where in the world,” Kishida said, hours after North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards Japanese waters.

 

 

[Randy W]

China promises ‘resolute response’ to any NATO expansion in Asia
Beijing rejects NATO concern over its ‘stated ambitions’, criticises presence of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea at summit.

from Al Jazeera

Leaders from Asia pose for a group photo with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius [Kacper Pempel/Reuters]

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Beijing has reacted angrily to a NATO communique portraying China as a major challenge to the military alliance’s interests and security.

In a strongly worded statement issued halfway through their two-day summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, NATO leaders said the People’s Republic of China (PRC) challenged the alliance’s interests, security and values with its “stated ambitions and coercive policies”.

“The PRC employs a broad range of political, economic, and military tools to increase its global footprint and project power, while remaining opaque about its strategy, intentions and military build-up,” the group’s leaders said in their communique, which covered 90 different points.

“The PRC’s malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation target Allies and harm Alliance security.”

The NATO declaration also said China and Russia were involved in a “deepening strategic partnership” and that the two countries were involved in “mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order”. The leaders urged China to play a “constructive” role as one of five permanent, veto-holding, members of the United Nations Security Council and condemn Russia’s “war of aggression against Ukraine”.

The Chinese mission to the European Union condemned the comments, accusing NATO of distorting China’s position and deliberately trying to discredit the country.

“We firmly oppose and reject this,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.