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China Warns Against NATO Asia-Pacific Expansion

JUL 12 2023·Updated AUG 27

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Facts

China's diplomatic mission in Brussels on Wednesday expressed concerns over any potential eastward expansion of NATO, vowing to resolutely oppose it to safeguard its national interests.
The Hill
China's state-run media also hit back at the alliance, suggesting that the wars and conflicts involving NATO members indicate that the bloc is a threat to global peace and stability.
Reuters
This comes as the Atlantic Alliance wrapped up its summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, a day after issuing a joint communique that criticized Beijing's ambitions and policies while stressing its openness to "constructive engagement" with the PRC.
Independent
NATO accused Beijing and Moscow of colluding to challenge the so-called rules-based international order — prompting the Chinese Foreign Ministry to say that the PRC-Russia relationship is based on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting.
Global Times
The two-day summit was also attended by Asia-Pacific leaders — Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea — indicating that NATO fears that the Ukraine War may encourage what it characterized as autocratic nations to take offensive actions in the Pacific.
CNN
The four Pacific countries were also invited to last year's summit in Madrid, Spain. The alliance earlier this year revealed plans to open a Tokyo liaison office — it's first in Asia — however, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed in May that Japan has no plans to become a NATO member.
Al Jazeera

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-China narrative

NATO’s hypocrisy and blatant lying have reached a new level as the Western alliance completely misrepresented China’s foreign policy positions. The rhetoric also ignored what NATO has done to antagonize China and Russia. While providing droves of arms and funds to Ukraine and recruiting Finland and Sweden, the alliance has the audacity to ridicule China’s neutrality. China will respond to any eastward expansion that poses a threat to its sovereignty.

South China Morning Post

Anti-China narrative

China is ramping up its military prowess and cyber intelligence as it looks to assert dominance in the coming years. It is also very secretive about its military plans while cozying up with Russia despite its brutal invasion of Ukraine. Given the authoritarian nature of the Chinese regime and the threat it represents to the rules-based international order, NATO must do all it can to make allies in the Asia-Pacific region and dissuade China from engaging in acts of aggression.