https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/n...ying-g7k6xgd9t
Nato wants global fightback to stop China’s ‘bullying’
China is threatening open societies and individual freedoms, the head of
Nato warned, calling for a new focus from the military alliance on the threat posed by Beijing’s “bullying and coercion”.
Jens Stoltenberg said Nato needed a “more global approach” in response to the threat posed by China, a proposal that will be welcomed in Washington, where President Trump has urged a tougher stance towards Beijing, which has emerged as the world’s second largest military spender after the US.
“The rise of China is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power, heating up the race for economic and technological supremacy, multiplying the threats to open societies and individual freedoms and increasing the competition over our values and our way of life,” the organisation’s secretary-general said in a speech setting out his vision for Nato up to 2030.
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They’re coming closer in cyberspace, we see them in the Arctic, in Africa, we see them investigating in our critical infrastructure,” he added. “And they’re working more and more with Russia. All of this has security consequences for Nato allies”.
“Nato does not see China as the new enemy,” Mr Stoltenberg insisted. “But . . . they already have the second largest defence budget [in the world]. They are investing heavily in modern military capabilities, including missiles that can reach Nato-allied countries.”
“As we look to 2030, we need to work even more closely with like-minded countries, like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, to defend the global rules and institutions,” Mr Stoltenberg said......
Mr Stoltenberg said coronavirus had “magnified tensions and trends when it comes to security,” reflecting a growing realisation in the West about the dangers of its reliance on China for goods and technology........