China has warned NATO against “provoking confrontation” over its ties with Russia after the Western military alliance accused Beijing of being a “decisive facilitator” of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Thursday's warning came as NATO leaders meeting in Washington, D.C., vowed to bolster defenses in Ukraine and Europe against Russia and made clear that China was also becoming a focus of the alliance's attention.
A spokesman for Beijing's mission to the European Union said NATO should “stop hyping up the so-called Chinese threat and provoking confrontation and rivalry, and do more to contribute to global peace and stability.”
China, which has deepened its strategic ties with Russia, has refused to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal aid to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But Beijing has offered a vital lifeline to Russia's isolated economy, with trade booming since the conflict began.
In their final statement on Wednesday, NATO’s 32 members expressed “deep concern” about Beijing’s deepening partnership with Moscow. They said China has “become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war on Ukraine through its so-called ‘no-holds-barred’ partnership and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”
“This increases the threat that Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security,” they said, urging China to “cease all material and political support for Russia’s war effort.” Beijing “cannot allow the largest war in Europe in recent history without negatively affecting its interests and reputation,” they added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that China provides equipment, microelectronics and tools that allow Russia to “build the missiles, the bombs, the planes and the weapons that they use to attack Ukraine.”
He said it was the first time that all NATO allies had stated this so clearly in an agreed document.
However, Beijing's spokesman dismissed the criticism, saying: “As we all know, China is not the creator of the crisis in Ukraine.”
“The statement of the NATO summit in Washington is full of Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric, and the content related to China is full of provocations, lies, incitement and smears,” the official told reporters.
They added that China's core position is to “promote peace talks and political settlement,” a reference to a 12-point peace plan Beijing issued more than a year ago that lays out general principles for ending the war.
The plan received a lukewarm reception in Russia and Ukraine at the time.
NATO member countries, in this year’s statement, also reiterated that China poses “systemic challenges” to Euro-Atlantic security, including by carrying out sustained malicious online and hybrid activities, such as disinformation campaigns.
They also expressed concern about China's space capabilities and activities, warning that Beijing is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a greater number of sophisticated delivery systems.
Rachel Rizzo, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's European Center, said NATO does not see China as a threat, but rather as a challenge.
NATO has made clear that “the alliance that China is talking about is not about pushing it into the Indo-Pacific region, but rather responding to China’s political and economic incursions, its technological advances in Europe, as well as China’s purchase of European infrastructure,” Rizzo told Al Jazeera. “So it’s not about expanding NATO’s theatres of operations, but rather responding to this kind of interlocking geographical theatre that we see around the world now.”
The NATO summit included leaders and delegates from the alliance's Asia-Pacific partners Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Asian countries have forged stronger ties with NATO in recent years amid growing concerns about China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
In the final statement, NATO members affirmed the importance of Asia-Pacific partners to the alliance and said they were “strengthening dialogue to address interregional challenges.”
He said NATO and Asia-Pacific partners plan to launch four projects to support Ukraine, strengthen cooperation in cyber defence, counter disinformation and work on artificial intelligence.
NATO members said the projects would “enhance our ability to work together on shared security interests.”
