The NATO summit in Vilnius was dominated by Putin’s shameful war. And it was a success: Turkey finally gave up its opposition to Sweden’s admission. The 31 NATO members rallied behind Ukraine and promised further extensive aid programs.
On the other hand, less attention was paid to the fact that guests from the Far East were also present in Vilnius. Likewise, the fact that China was mentioned remarkably often in the final communiqué. That was no coincidence. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg states in the journal “Foreign Affairs”: “The Chinese government increasingly relies on coercion in foreign policy and repression in domestic policy. This challenges the security of NATO and its values and interests.”
Xi Jinping’s promise to his buddy Vladimir Putin to support Russia unconditionally therefore has a lasting influence on NATO’s future strategy. “The closer the autocratic regimes get together, the more the countries that stand up for freedom and democracy have to stick together,” Stoltenberg continued. “NATO is a regional alliance between Europe and North America, but the new challenges are global. That is why, in addition to the heads of state of the European Union, I have also invited partners from the Indo-Pacific – Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – to Vilnius.”
The war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed by the West may have strengthened ties between Russia and China. Conversely, ranks in NATO are also closing. Mathieu Droin of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Wall Street Journal: “Member States are increasingly convinced that China and Russia are two sides of the same coin. And they are also increasingly convinced that the Chinese challenge must be met.”
Taking on the Chinese challenge means looking around for partners in Asia. Besides Putin’s war and global warming, the precarious relationship between the US and China is currently the biggest threat to peace and prosperity in the world.
This relationship is characterized by deep mutual distrust. The US fears that China wants to use artificial intelligence for military purposes and sees evidence that Huawei and TikTok are being misused to illegally collect data from US citizens. Beijing, for its part, is operating on the paranoid idea that the US wants to keep China in check, as it did with the USSR during the Cold War.
The smallest events have a big impact
Due to deep-seated distrust, the smallest events can have major consequences, such as the recent affair about a Chinese spy balloon over the US, which is ridiculous in itself. Rising tensions are also affecting other countries. They are urged against their will to take a stand. “The vast majority of Indo-Pacific and European countries do not want to get caught up in elections that are impossible for them,” EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borell said at a meeting of the Indo-Pacific Forum in Brussels.
Officially, they don’t have to. At a conference in Singapore last June, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured that Washington was by no means demanding “that a choice be made between us and another country.”
who believes it In ‘Foreign Affairs’, the American security expert Richard Fontaine makes it plainly clear: ‘Soon it will no longer be possible to sit on the fence. (…) The American-Chinese competition has become an unavoidable phenomenon in today’s world. And Washington should stop pretending it isn’t.”
The escalation started with Huawei. This IT company is at the forefront of 5G technology. But the US is pulling out all the stops to prevent its allies from collaborating with the Chinese company. For example, Donald Trump threatened Poland that he would withdraw its troops if Warsaw agreed to a deal with Huawei.
Under President Biden, this conflict escalated into a chips war. The US banned the export of advanced chips to China. Beijing responded by banning semiconductors from American manufacturer Micron and banning the export of rare earth metals to the West.
The pulling of the ropes continues in other areas as well. China is angry because the Americans deployed the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea. Washington is not at all happy that China is building a port in the United Arab Emirates that can also be used for military purposes.
Although Washington and Beijing have resumed dialogue after the balloon incident, the fundamental conflict remains. “The number of unavoidable dilemmas will increase as US-China rivalry intensifies,” said Fontaine.
Under these circumstances, neutrality will become a foreign word. “Countries can no longer have the five and the Weggli,” Fontaine said. “The time to make a decision has come.”
NATO, for its part, must change its motto that its goal is to keep the Germans on the ground and the Russians out. Now it has to be: the Russians out, the Americans in and the Chinese free – and to keep NATO together.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
