The outside world was greatly surprised by their frank expression of China at the summit | NATO | China
On July 15th, the website of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong published an article titled "NATO Clearly Attempts to Launch a Cold War against China", written by Pakistani freelance writer Imran Khalid. The article is compiled as follows:
People have long thought that at the recently concluded NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the so-called China challenge should occupy a considerable part of the agenda. However, the frank statement regarding China in the final communique still surprised the outside world, and there is no doubt that the United States and its allies are attempting to launch a new Cold War against China.
For a period of time, a faction within NATO has been attempting to incite anti China sentiment under the influence of the United States. This small group has been vigorously inciting radical, anxious, and combative emotions, actively intervening in Asia Pacific affairs.
The leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, recognized as "global partners" by NATO, have been invited to attend the NATO summit for the second consecutive year, which clearly indicates that NATO, a military group, intends to expand its influence in the Asia Pacific region. It seems that in order to further encircle China, NATO has signed an "Individual Targeted Partnership Plan" with Japan and held talks with the leaders of the "Asia Pacific Four Partners" on the second and last day of the Vilnius Summit.
On the 11th, the NATO summit venue was filmed in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius
As expected, the target of such actions is China. However, the complex strategies planned by NATO and the United States for this expanded chess game contain inherent risks and uncertainties.
The Vilnius Summit reflects the evolving NATO views and policies towards China. In many years before, China could only be considered a distant concern, and it was not even included in NATO's 2010 strategic concept document. However, the continuous lobbying by the Trump administration seems to have gradually changed the views of some European allies, and China ultimately appeared on NATO's radar.
In December 2019, China's first appearance in NATO's statement marked a significant shift in the military alliance's view of China's strategic significance. This is the first step in the continuous evolution of NATO's official stance on China. In the following months, China began to be mentioned more frequently and with a stronger tone.
At the 2021 Brussels Summit, the NATO Communique clearly sounded the alarm, stating that China's "established goals and tough actions" pose a systemic challenge to the rule-based international order and those regions that directly affect NATO security.
The communiqu é of the Vilnius Summit not only retained the statement that China poses a "systemic challenge", but also talked about China's specific threats to NATO and NATO's response strategies. It is evident that NATO's views on China and its relationship with Beijing have undergone substantial changes over the past year, and the related attitudes seem to be increasingly confrontational.
This tendency is not only reflected in official statements, but also in NATO's actions, such as NATO's high attention to the Asia Pacific region.
Although the desire to establish a liaison office in Tokyo has not been realized, NATO may seek to demonstrate its presence in the Asia Pacific region through other means, such as establishing substantive bilateral relations with its designated regional partner countries and even participating in joint military operations. Such actions will only lead to an escalation of tension in the Asia Pacific region.
