China reacted angrily on Thursday to a NATO summit declaration this year that explicitly called Beijing a threat and suggested it could act in response to closer diplomatic ties between China and Russia.
The NATO summit concluded on Thursday in Washington DC. It was attended by the leaders of NATO member states as well as the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Ukraine. Ukraine borders NATO’s Eastern European countries, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the main topic of the summit, with the declaration firmly accusing China of participating in the invasion.
NATO called China a “decisive backer” of the invasion of Ukraine and warned that “China cannot enable Europe’s largest war in recent history without adversely affecting its own interests and reputation.”
The CCP has enthusiastically supported the Russian economy in opposition to US and European sanctions over its aggression, but it also maintains diplomatic ties with Ukraine, as Kyiv is a partner in the predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Chinese companies to help rebuild Ukraine after the war.
Nevertheless, China’s Foreign Ministry strongly denied playing any role in supporting Russia, claiming that NATO countries were “trying to create a virtual enemy” to justify the survival of the military alliance.
“NATO’s Washington Leaders’ Declaration is fear-mongering about the Asia-Pacific region, a product of the Cold War mentality and full of bellicose rhetoric,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jiang said. Said China’s leadership “strongly condemns and resolutely opposes” the move, the government told reporters on Thursday.
Lin also described NATO itself as a “huge danger to the world” and a “relic of the Cold War” that is no longer needed in the 21st century.
“It is NATO’s usual tactic to invent a hypothetical enemy and act outside the region to justify its existence,” he continued.
Lin added that it “makes no sense” to accuse China of supporting Russia, China’s biggest ally, whose current diplomatic relationship with dictator Vladimir Putin has called a “golden age.” Oddly enough, it seems to accuse the U.S. of supplying arms to Russia.
“Statistics show that more than 60 percent of military parts and dual-use goods imported by Russia come from the United States and other Western countries,” he claimed. “95 percent of the main Russian parts destroyed by Ukraine came from Western countries, and 72 percent of Western parts for Russian weapons come from US companies.”
“China urges NATO to abandon the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and zero-sum strategy, form a correct understanding of China, stop interfering in and slandering China’s internal affairs, and stop disrupting China-Europe relations,” he demanded.
Chinese state media has long called for NATO to be “consigned to the dustbin of history” and continued to make the same demand for the military alliance to be dismantled at this week’s summit. Global Times The propaganda media has spent much of this week mocking NATO, calling the alliance “fragile” because several of its member states are electoral republics, and suggesting that the end of the Cold War has made NATO obsolete.
Thursday, Global Times Quote NATO, as always, had its administration-approved “experts” conclude that concerns about China, which extend beyond Russia to cybersecurity threats and colonization of the South China Sea, were a “pretext” to justify continued support for Ukraine.
“NATO’s change of rhetoric toward China is partly due to the U.S. and partly due to NATO’s own struggle with Ukraine, but the more they struggle, the more they look for excuses,” “Expert” researcher Lu Xiang was quoted as saying. “They need to find an excuse, and now the cliché excuse is that China is supporting Russia, backing it up.”
Lu did not mention China’s high-profile outreach to Russia, such as multiple meetings this year between autocrat Xi Jinping and Putin, and whether this could create the impression that China is “supporting” Russia.
Instead of denying that China and Russia are supporting each other, Global Times The article argued that “China-Russia cooperation” is necessary as a “balancing force to counter the reckless actions of the United States and the West and ensure that the world functions fairly and orderly.”
China’s insistence that it does not support the invasion of Ukraine follows a marked shift in the stance of President Zelensky and his administration toward Beijing. At the start of the invasion, Zelensky tried to enlist Chinese support, citing the deep trade ties between the two countries, and asked the Belt and Road Initiative to help rebuild the war-ravaged country. President Xi authorized a phone call with Zelensky in April 2023, but has otherwise distanced himself from Ukraine.
Ukraine’s government changed its tune after reports emerged that China had secretly lobbied countries not to attend a “peace summit” hosted by President Zelenskiy in Switzerland that month. The Ukrainian president accused Xi of turning his country into a puppet of the Kremlin.
“It is a shame that a big, independent and powerful country like China has become Putin’s pawn,” Zelensky said. Said.
In separate comments in June, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba suggested China was not backing either Russia or Ukraine and was just waiting to take advantage of the winner.
“China is in no rush to pick sides. The reason is simple: it is extremely important for China to see how the war between Russia and Ukraine ends,” he said at a public event.
“If this war ends with a victory for Ukraine, it will limit China’s further actions. But if this war does not end with a victory for Russia, but with Russia imposing its strategic initiative – if Russia advances bit by bit over the years and fights back bit by bit despite all the help we’ve received – then that will free China’s hand,” he explained.
Ukraine is not a NATO member state, but President Zelensky’s attendance at this week’s summit indicates that he did not refrain from issuing harsh criticism of Beijing in the summit declaration.
