NATO classifies China as a “systemic challenge”

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Chinese warships at a military parade in Saint Petersburg (2017)

Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP

China's influence in the world is growing - NATO no longer wants to stand idly by.

After years of reluctance, NATO wants to deal much more intensively with potential threats from China.

According to information from the news agencies dpa and Reuters, all 30 member states agreed on this at a meeting in Brussels.

Shortly before the plenary session of heads of state and government began, all members of the alliance accepted the planned final declaration.

As Reuters reports, China's behavior is to be classified as a "systemic challenge" in the final declaration.

Specifically, it says: "China's proven ambitions and its assertive behavior represent systemic challenges for the rule-based international order and in areas that are relevant to the security of the alliance."

The focus of the deliberations is on a realignment of the alliance with the title »NATO 2030«.

NATO wants to take a unified position on the rise of China, intensify internal consultations at the political level and put its resistance to new dangers, such as cyber crime, to the test.

"We know that China does not share our values"

At the opening of the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had already made clear statements about China.

"We know that China does not share our values," Stoltenberg affirmed his statement from the previous week.

NATO must react to this "together as an alliance".

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Stoltenberg recently said that NATO “does not see China as an adversary or an enemy”.

"But the rise of the country is the greatest security challenge of our time."

Biden pledges support for NATO

US President Joe Biden, who attended a NATO summit for the first time since his election victory, emphasized his country's support for the alliance.

Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which stipulates the duty of assistance in the event of an attack on an ally, is a "sacred duty" for the USA, he said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that NATO should not be naive when dealing with China any more than when dealing with Russia.

Without NATO, it would be "almost impossible to protect our people," he added.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "I don't think anyone in the group wants to get involved in a new Cold War with China." In Beijing, the results of the NATO summit should be closely monitored.

To the final declaration of the G7 states at their meeting in Cornwall, England, China reacted with sharp words and accused the industrialized nations of "confrontation and division".

mfh / fek / Reuters / dpa