Who is the war machine? Who is the Messenger of Peace? Uncovering the Truth of NATO's Lies | Shanghai Institute of American Studies | Netherlands | NATO

Guo Xiaobing, Director of the Arms Control Research Center of the China Academy of Modern International Relations

Zhao Kexin, Research Intern at the Shanghai Institute of American Studies

On July 12th, the NATO Vilnius Summit concluded. The summit targeted China, and the term China appeared 14 times in the joint communiqu é, which slandered and smeared China. But facts speak louder than words. Iron facts make it clear to the world: NATO is a war machine, and China is a messenger of peace.

Who is the war machine?

Which of the major armed conflicts on a global scale after the Cold War, such as the Gulf War, the Bosnia and Herzegovina War, the Kosovo War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, the airstrikes on Libya, the Syrian Civil War, and the Ukraine Crisis, have NATO been absent from? In an era of peace and development, NATO is constantly fighting and often plays the role of the initiator of war, the instigator of war, and the bully of the weak and the destroyer of dimensionality. Even worse, it often starts one war after another with full of freedom and enthusiasm, but leaves after a mess, leaving all the suffering to the people of the interfered countries to bear. From Afghanistan to Libya, which one is not like this?

In the past thirty years, China has been earnestly seeking peace and development, and has never fought a single war. It is ridiculous for an armed group with continuous wars to accuse a country that does not fire a single shot and works hard to provide cheap and high-quality goods to the world, threatening its security interests.

Who slaughtered a large number of innocent civilians?

The large-scale indiscriminate killing of innocent people by NATO forces is shocking. According to a report released by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University on May 15th, the wars launched by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and Pakistan after 9/11 resulted in a total of 4.5 to 4.6 million deaths, equivalent to the complete slaughter of the population of a small Nordic country. Among them, 387000 civilians died directly due to violence, more than Iceland, with indirect deaths reaching 3.6 to 3.7 million. In the face of the atrocities committed by NATO forces, then Afghan President Karzai shed tears, saying that the International Security Assistance Force and the US military alliance were using force in an "extreme" and "disproportionate" manner, but Afghanistan was unable to prevent them from killing its own children. In addition, there are 7.6 million children under the age of 5 suffering from severe malnutrition in these conflict areas.

While NATO is busy creating war, China is creating peace. China actively participates in international peacekeeping and is the largest troop contributor among the permanent members of the Security Council. The Chinese Navy's "Ark of Peace" medical ship has visited dozens of countries, provided medical services, organized medical exchanges, and benefited hundreds of thousands of people.

Who is irresponsible on the issue of nuclear weapons?

As the world's largest nuclear alliance, NATO surprisingly talks about nuclear arms control issues. Article 1 of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons stipulates that "each contracting party with nuclear weapons undertakes not to directly or indirectly transfer nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices to any receiving country." The three nuclear weapon states, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, should strictly abide by this provision. But the United States and Britain are basically consistent in their handling of the nuclear weapons issue. The only Trident nuclear warhead in the UK was copied from the US W76 warhead, and later purchased some components from the US to upgrade to the US W76-1 warhead. The British carrier uses the American Trident missile, and the ignition control system and navigation system rely on technology provided by the United States. The two countries are still conducting subcritical nuclear tests at the Nevada test site in the United States. A British legislator once proposed to reconsider the Anglo American nuclear weapons cooperation plan, but it ultimately fell through. The United States has also spread nuclear weapons technology to France. French nuclear weapons experts say that if their design goes wrong, the United States will ring a bell to give a warning and call it "negative guidance".

In addition, NATO has also implemented a nuclear sharing policy. The United States has deployed hundreds of low yield nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Türkiye. A member of the White House National Security Council once said that NATO nuclear sharing makes "NATO partners without nuclear weapons actually nuclear powers during times of war." This is not nuclear proliferation, what is it? At present, the United States is further upgrading its cutting-edge nuclear capabilities, deploying the B61-12 nuclear bomb in Europe, and replacing the old F-15E with F-35A fighter jets as a nuclear weapon delivery platform.

On the other hand, China has adhered to the policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in the past 60 years, never engaging in competition or comparison in the quantity and scale of nuclear weapons, and never deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of other countries.

After the Cold War, NATO wanted to regulate European affairs, but as a result, it led to a raging war. Now it is extending its tentacles to the Asia Pacific region. Will the Asia Pacific region, which has enjoyed peace for decades, repeat the mistakes of Europe? The people of East Asian countries should jointly resist NATO's eastward expansion into the Asia Pacific region.