NATO, ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the Chinese Foreign Ministry

NATO seeks to expand its partnerships with Indo-Pacific states.

(It is of course Asia-Pacific and not Indo-Pacific, which, when used, is your cue that you are dealing with rules-based-international-order-groups. And then we have to make note that they count countries like Montenegro as part of the vaunted NATO Alliance. Montenegro has all of 616,000 population. Do they make up countries to increase their so-called membership?)    

They plan to expand its pool of partners from the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region, a senior US official suggested while previewing the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit this week in Washington. “Certainly there are more partners that we have in the Indo-Pacific that are of great value to the NATO alliance. And we will seek to include other partners and other events in the future,” said Michael Carpenter, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, calling Nato’s Indo-Pacific partners “incredibly important”.

Beijing issued a stern warning just as leaders and senior officials from the now 32-member alliance gather in Washington for three days of meetings, from Tuesday through Thursday, saying that NATO’s “breaching its boundary” was the “real source of risks threatening global peace and stability”.

The following is from the Chinese ​Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on July 9, 2024

CCTV: It’s reported that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a pre-summit press conference that NATO’s global partnerships will be one of the topics for the Summit. He said that “as we see in Ukraine, our security is not regional, it is global” and that it is important to “work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific.” NATO will discuss cooperation on Ukraine and other topics with Australia, the ROK, Japan and New Zealand to resist Russia, Iran, the DPRK and China. What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: As a vestige of the Cold War and the world’s biggest military bloc, NATO claims itself to be a regional defensive alliance on the one hand, but on the other hand keeps reaching beyond its boundary, expanding its mandate, stoking confrontation and acting like a bully on the world stage. NATO’s so-called security is more often than not built on others’ insecurity, and what it does puts the world and regions at high security risk.

We firmly reject NATO’s vilification and blame-shifting against China. NATO should not use China to justify its insertion into the Asia-Pacific and attempt to disrupt regional dynamics. China is a force for world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of international order. Our objective and just position and constructive role on the Ukraine crisis and international and regional hotspot issues are widely recognized by the international community. We urge NATO to form the right perception of China, get rid of its Cold War mentality and zero-sum approach, stop scaremongering on security and making imaginary enemies, stop forming exclusive clubs in the name of collective defense, and play a constructive role for global peace, stability and development.

Bloomberg: I have a question for you on the question on the NATO cooperation in Asia. You said that China opposes the expansion of Cold War alliances in this region and that NATO has no place. Last month when the DPRK and the Russian Federation announced the reinstatement of their Cold War alliance on China’s borders, you said that China has no comment on the bilateral cooperation between the two parties, and this is a matter for two sovereign states. Why is it that when Russia and the DPRK revive their Cold War alliance, China has no comment, but when states in Asia sign a multilateral agreement with NATO, China’s opposed to this?

Lin Jian: On the bilateral exchanges between Russia and the DPRK, I have made clear China’s position. It is the bilateral interaction between two sovereign states.

About the question on NATO, I’ve been quite clear as well. China hopes NATO to get rid of the Cold War mentality and zero-sum approach, stop inciting bloc confrontation and forming exclusive clubs in the name of collective defense, and contribute to global peace, stability and development.

Global Times, the bullhorn of the Chinese English Media, will never keep quiet!
NATO summit in Washington ‘outwardly tough but inwardly brittle’
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315718.shtml

They are right with their headline.

In another article, this paragraph makes sense: The tactics the West has been using to garner attention on this event are nothing more than constant hyping of the “China threat” theory. Under the hype from the US and NATO, it seems that China has become the “key” to the survival of Europe, controlling the fate of the Russia-Ukraine conflict like a “decisive power.” Moreover, NATO has invited Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia for three consecutive years and attempted to form an “Asia-Pacific NATO.” This organization, which originally claimed to be “defensive,” is now trying to prove it can “protect” the whole “Asia-Pacific” region.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315705.shtml