Looking back on history a few years later, we will surely find out more clearly that the recently concluded NATO summit in Madrid was a watershed in its relations with China.
Compared with the previous NATO summits, the biggest difference of this Madrid NATO summit is that four Asia-Pacific countries including Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia were invited to participate, and the strategic orientation towards China is particularly obvious; Locked as a strategic goal, China is defined as a "systemic challenge". The strategic documents adopted by the summit mentioned China at least 11 times, only 3 times less than Russia, which is the "most significant and direct threat" to NATO, and all The statements that accompany China are all negative.
For example, NATO argues that China "seeks to control key technological and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure and strategic materials and supply chains", that China "is committed to subverting the rules-based international order in the space, cyber and maritime domains" and that China "uses economic influence" China's Euro-Atlantic "systemic challenges to security, interests and values", China's practices in the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and other places pose challenges to NATO's security interests and values and many more.
This is something that has never happened in NATO's 73-year history, and can be regarded as a qualitative change in the relationship between NATO and China.
Previously, apart from the fact that the US military planes bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Yugoslav War, NATO and China had historical grievances. NATO, a far-away multilateral military organization, had basically had nothing to do with China, and the Chinese knew it in many ways. Limited to the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and the post-Cold War geo-security conflict between the United States, Europe and Russia, few people imagine that China will one day be defined as a "systemic challenge".
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022.
The summit ended on the 30th.
(AP)
NATO's full name is "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" (NATO), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, members include Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Luxembourg, the United States, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and other 30 member countries, from their names and members The composition of the country, that is, the distance from China can be known.
NATO is a typical product of the Cold War. At the beginning of its establishment, the purpose was to defend the Soviet Union and its affiliated countries. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the upheaval in Eastern Europe, it is said that "NATO" has lost its meaning of existence, but because of the historical grievances between the United States, Europe and Russia Conflicting interests, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, this military monster did not disappear with the Cold War. Instead, it adjusted its goals and began to regard Russia as a strategic opponent. After the end of the Cold War, it continued to expand eastward until it triggered the Ukraine war.
The participation of Finland and Sweden in NATO can be regarded as the latest achievement of its continuous expansion, and the definition of China as a "systemic challenge" and the invitation of Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and other countries to participate in the Madrid summit constitute the possibility of this organization. One of the most complete distortions in geographical and strategic setting since its establishment means that this organization has not only stepped out of the traditional concept of the "North Atlantic" geographically, but also surpassed Russia, the traditional opponent, in the setting of strategic goals.
Because NATO is a multilateral military organization that has traditionally used Russia as its imaginary enemy, and the ongoing war in Ukraine has indeed evoked deep fears of Russian expansion in European society, the Madrid summit defined Russia as the "most significant and immediate threat" as Makes sense, why would it go beyond geography and traditional geosecurity to designate China as a "systemic challenge"?
NATO: The picture shows the leaders of NATO, Finland and Sweden attending the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on June 28, 2022.
(AP)
There is only one answer, America.
Starting from its own global interests, in order to maintain its hegemonic position and suppress the rise of China, the United States used its leadership in NATO and its influence in the Western world to kidnap NATO and extend its extension from Europe to the Asia-Pacific. The result of the challenges facing the entire West, including Europe.
It is the embodiment of Biden's strategy to deal with China's challenges by strengthening the alliance system, and it can also be said to be the concrete result of his China policy.
In fact, confronting China is not in the interests of Europe, nor in the interests of Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and other countries. The history of the past few decades has fully demonstrated that there is no leadership competition between China and these regions or countries. It is also possible to transcend the differences in culture, system and ideology, and establish a positive relationship of win-win cooperation, especially in the future.
However, because these countries have a serious lack of strategic autonomy and capability, and to a certain extent, thanks to the rising tide of national populism in China in recent years, under the abduction of the United States, they are still a little lost and shaped at a wrong time. A false enemy that does not exist, but also exposes its own limitations.
As the Chinese Mission to the European Union said in response to NATO's "Strategic Concept Paper", NATO claims that other countries bring challenges, but in fact it is NATO itself that is causing trouble around the world; NATO claims to be a defensive organization, defending rules-based However, NATO often bypasses the UN Security Council to launch wars against sovereign countries; NATO claims that its defense zone will not break through the North Atlantic, but in recent years, it has expanded its borders to the Asia-Pacific, trying to replicate the routine of bloc confrontation in Europe to the Asia-Pacific. , is bound to be unacceptable to the times, and will suffer a historic setback.
NATO Summit | China: Japan's old tune is actually an excuse to expand its military and military NATO summit is held today British media: member states have differences on the description of China and China-Russia relations NATO summit | "Sacrificing allies" for NATO's eastward expansion?
Value Diplomacy Stops at Real Interests
