By Andrew Thornebrooke
May 11, 2022 Updated: May 11, 2022
A Chinese navy
formation, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning (C), during military drills
in the South China Sea, in an aerial photo taken on Jan. 2, 2017. (STR/AFP via
Getty Images)
China’s
rapid military expansion
and modernization presents a challenge to the global security environment,
according to a top NATO official,
and significant work will need to be done to ensure the continuation of the
democratic way of life that the alliance aims to defend.
“China
is not an adversary to NATO,” said NATO Deputy Security General Mircea Geoana.
“But its military modernization, its heavy investment in nuclear missiles and
hypersonic missiles, and its coercive diplomacy, has security implications for
all NATO allies.”
“We
have to stand up and stay strong to uphold our values and our way of life.”
Geoana
made the comments during a wide-ranging discussion at the Hudson Institute, a
Washington-based think tank, on May 11 during which he spoke on topics related
to China, Afghanistan, and Russia.
Notably,
he said that “like-minded democracies around the world,” and particularly
“those in the Asia-Pacific region,” would need to work together to address the
security implications posed by communist China and its strategic partner
Russia.
To that
end, Geoana said that Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, “four
highly-valued partners of NATO,” would play an invaluable role in helping the
alliance to maintain peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific.
The
comments precede the unveiling of a new Strategic Concept, expected to be
announced this June at the NATO summit in Madrid. The Strategic Concept is
second in importance only to the alliance’s founding charter, and will chart
out the pathway that NATO will take strategically over the next decade.
Vitally,
the new strategic concept will contend with the “rise of China” for the first
time ever, presenting a profound shift away from the previous strategy released
in 2010, which did not make note of China and even listed Russia as a strategic
partner of the alliance.
“The
old strategic concept of NATO doesn’t mention China at all,” Geoana said.
“It
sounds like [it’s] from a different world.”
“The
world has drastically changed and the next strategic concept must reflect this
new, more dangerous security reality.”
With
the reality of a revisionist Russia, creeping authoritarianism, and
compromised global supply chains in mind, Geoana cautioned that the coming
years would be fraught with perils for international security and the defense
of democracies. Moreover, he said, the world ought to expect deepening
partnerships between authoritarian regimes, such as that of Moscow and Beijing.
“We
have the feeling that the jury is still out, but do not believe that this
strategic partnership between Russia and China will weaken,” Geoana said.
“They
have a common interest to weaken America’s leadership in the world and to have
a world order that suits their autocratic vision of society.”
https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-military-expansion-has-implications-for-all-nato-nato-security-official_4460494.html
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