NATO does not regard China as adversary: Secretary-General
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The NATO chief says the main message conveyed during his meetings with Chinese officials was that the alliance and its member states are ready to engage with Beijing.
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a news conference to present NATO's annual report for 2022, in Brussels, Belgium, March 21, 2023 (Reuters)
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pointed out on Tuesday that the US-led military alliance does not consider China to be its adversary and is ready to engage with Beijing as are its individual member states.
"It is in the interest of all of us to engage with China and that's exactly what NATO does. We engage at the start staff level. We engage regularly with Chinese officials," Stoltenberg indicated, adding, "We don’t regard China as an adversary."
Stoltenberg made the comment during the 18th Annual NATO Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament, and Weapons of Mass Destruction in Washington.
The NATO chief said the main message conveyed during his meetings with Chinese officials was that the alliance and its member states are ready to engage with Beijing.
Stoltenberg said it is in the interest of China to have verifiable limits on nuclear arsenals, adding that Beijing should also be willing to engage more in arms control talks, including on establishing limits on the number of nuclear warheads.
It is noteworthy that the current NATO strategic concept adopted at the bloc's 2022 summit in Madrid states that China's stated "ambitions and coercive policies" challenge NATO's interests, security, and values.
The paper also states that China strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber, and maritime domains, while the US-led alliance's security is targeted by Beijing's "malicious" hybrid and cyber operations.
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell considered that the bloc should not cut ties with China at a time when Beijing's influence in the international arena is growing.
Speaking to the European parliament, Borell said communication channels should not be endangered and contacts with China should not be broken off.
The EU foreign policy chief admitted that China's influence around the globe was growing and that many issues cannot be solved unilaterally without the cooperation of Beijing.
This comes as China is currently playing an international role in mediation efforts, the last of which was brokering an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties, as well as proposing a 12-point plan to achieve peace in Ukraine.
Read more: US must change attitude toward China before any talks: Diplomat
