“China is fueling the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II” while seeking to “maintain good relations with the West. […] At some point, allies must impose a cost.” Visiting Washington on Monday to prepare for the Atlantic Alliance summit which will be held from July 9 to 11 in the American federal capital, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attacked Beijing head-on, reports the South China Morning Post.
NATO, led by the United States, is increasingly criticizing aid to the Russian war effort provided by China and its companies, which supply components and equipment supporting the military sector. Russian weaponry, with an impact on the battlefield in Ukraine.
A “form of signal intended to calm Russia and China”
In an interview published Sunday in the TelegraphJens Stoltenberg had already stated that the Atlantic alliance had started to discuss the possibility of deploying more nuclear weapons in the face of the growing threat from Moscow and Beijing. “He warned that China, in particular, was investing heavily in modern weapons, including its nuclear arsenal, which he said could reach 1,000 nuclear warheads as soon as 2030.”underlines the British daily.
“Historically, NATO has never focused” in this way “on China”notice the Guardian. For Sebastian Brixey-Williams, director of the London think tank Basic, specializing in conflict prevention, the remarks made by the head of NATO during his visit to Washington are a “form of signal intended to calm Russia and China in order to try to avoid an arms race”. The researcher, however, tells the Guardian that “we should not assume this is a bluff.” Fact, “it could even make an arms race more likely”he believes.
The biggest increase in NATO military spending “in decades”
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