NATO raises the tone on China by ranking it among the great global security challenges

The first NATO summit in the Joe Biden era has placed China on the list of top challenges alongside the traditional rival that was Russia. The Alliance has also established a new line of defense against the risk of cyberattacks in view of the increasing number of incidents and attacks originating, on many occasions, from Russian territory. The 30 Western allies thus enter a new stage marked by the drive of the new US president and by the need to face a very unstable geostrategic scenario, plagued by hybrid threats that go beyond traditional military strategy.

The meeting held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels has made it possible to visualize the commitment of the new US Administration with an Alliance whose usefulness was questioned by the previous president, Donald Trump, who came to question its survival. The meeting this Monday, on the other hand, has been the occasion for a transatlantic reunion based on good harmony and with an atmosphere of "first day of school", according to the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, because it is one of the first appointments with physical presence since the beginning of the pandemic.

Biden has made a profession of faith in the transatlantic relationship and in the future of the Alliance that has comforted the Allies.

The renewed momentum is clearly pointing towards Russia, which is mentioned 61 times in the final summit communiqué and which remains the main threat to the Alliance.

But the 30 members of NATO also underline the "systemic challenge" posed by China, which is mentioned 10 times in the statement.

And the western allies point with concern to the risk that both authoritarian countries join forces to challenge the western democracies because China "is also cooperating militarily with Russia, including its participation in Russian maneuvers in the Euro-Atlantic zone."

More information

• NATO takes on China's mighty rise as a collective challenge for the first time

• Biden: "I want NATO to know that the United States is there"

The Alliance is already beginning to make concrete demands on Beijing and to adopt measures that target both Russia and the government of Xi Jinping.

"We ask China to respect its international commitments and act responsibly in the international system, including space, cyberspace and maritime territories, in line with its role as a great power," the final statement of the NATO summit said. .

Western allies also place China on the new battlefield of the 21st century characterized by “a growing number of cyber, hybrid and asymmetric threats, including disinformation campaigns, malicious and increasingly sophisticated use of emerging technologies and disruptive ”.

Several allies have suffered cyberattacks in recent months, from the one affecting the computer bases of the health system in Ireland to the paralyzing of an oil pipeline in the US.Although in principle the attacks are claimed by

hacker

groups looking

for a ransom billionaire, Western authorities suspect that in certain cases it may be destabilizing techniques for the economy and democracy orchestrated or tolerated by authoritarian governments.

NATO reaffirms its intention to judge these attacks on a case-by-case basis and reserves the possibility of classifying them as aggression and activating Article 5 of its Treaty, which establishes mutual aid between the allies.

The summit communiqué notes that "the allies recognize that the cumulative impact of significant malicious cyber activities could, in certain circumstances, be considered equivalent to an armed attack."

NATO, for now, has agreed at the summit to implement a comprehensive cyber defense policy, based on deterrence and the development of new capabilities.

And it declares itself willing: "To use all our capabilities at any time to avoid, defend ourselves or counteract the full spectrum of cyber threats, including those that are part of hybrid campaigns."

The allies also warn: "If necessary we will impose costs on those who hit us."

And they warn that the answer "does not need to be restricted to cybernetic terrain."

An asymmetric threat of retaliation that is likely to attract attention in Moscow or Beijing.

Nuclear arsenal

The NATO summit has failed to qualify China as an "enemy" or "rival," but the language of the final communiqué makes clear the growing tension with the Asian giant. "China's declared ambitions and its assertive conduct present systemic challenges for the international order and in areas relevant to the security of the Alliance," says the unanimously approved text. And the presidents of Government or State of those allied countries add. "We are concerned about the coercion policies [of Beijing]", and recall that "China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal" and maintains "opacity on the development of its military modernization."

Stoltenberg has specified that the strategy against China will not consist so much in the presence of NATO in Asia as in the strengthening of defenses in the territory of the Alliance itself: "Because it is China that is coming towards us." Among the allies, however, there are many nuances about the relationship with Beijing and several of the European countries, such as Germany or France, are reluctant to embark on a kind of cold war with the Asian giant.

"The objectives must not be confused," said French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the summit.

"NATO is a military organization, but our relationship with China is not just military," Macron said.

And he stressed: "China is a great power with which we work in very important international areas", alluding to the fight against climate change or arms control.

But despite European reluctance, the Alliance progressively hardens its tone towards China.

NATO had already identified that country as one of its main challenges at the December 2019 summit, largely due to pressure from Trump.

President Biden has not only kept up the pressure from the previous White House tenant, but has even doubled it.