NATO gets tough, designates China as ‘systemic’ challenge

Brussels, June 14

NATO leaders designated China as presenting “systemic challenges” in a summit communique on Monday that marked a forceful stance for the Western military alliance, declared a priority for US President Joe Biden after the Trump years.

In a diplomatic victory for Biden, who has urged his fellow NATO leaders to stand up to China’s authoritarianism and growing military might, the final statement branded China a security risk to the Western alliance.

The language, which will now set the path for alliance policy, comes a day after the Group of Seven rich nations issued a statement on human rights in China and Taiwan that Beijing said slandered its reputation.

“China’s stated ambitions and assertive behaviour present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to alliance security,” NATO leaders said in a communique after their summit.

Biden also told European allies the alliance’s mutual defence pact was a “sacred obligation” for the United States — a marked shift in tone from his predecessor Donald Trump, who had threatened to withdraw from the alliance and accused Europeans of contributing too little.

“I want all Europe to know that the United States is there,” said Biden. “NATO is critically important to us.”

China’s embassy in London said it was opposed to mentions of Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which it said distorted the facts and exposed the “sinister intentions of a few countries such as the United States”. — Agencies

Don’t want another Cold War: Johnson

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday the NATO alliance did not want a new Cold War with China
• “When it comes to China, I don’t think anybody around the table wants to descend into a new Cold War with China,” he said on arrival at the NATO summit in Brussels
• “But I think people see challenges, they see things that we have to manage together, but they also see opportunities,” Johnson added.