UN envoy: Cold War mentality ‘doomed to fail’ in Asia
China’s ambassador to the United Nations reiterated on Tuesday that the “long-outdated Cold War script” must never be reenacted in the AsiaPacific region, and conflict “must not be allowed to happen there”.
“We firmly oppose certain elements clamoring for NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific, or an Asia-Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances,” Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN, told a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
Asia-Pacific countries “share the appreciation for the hard-won peace and prosperity, and the wish to focus on mutually beneficial cooperation in pursuit of common development and revitalization”.
“Any attempt to go against the tide of history is doomed to fail. China pays close attention to NATO strategic adjustment and is concerned about the policy implications of the so-called Strategic Concept,” he said.
On Friday, the United States announced a new alliance including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to “boost economic and security ties with the Pacific Island nations”, the White House said in a statement.
The White House on Sunday released the readout on US President Joe Biden’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in which it noted that the two “discussed the challenges posed by China”.
NATO leaders have been holding their annual summit in Madrid, Spain. The summit, which ends on Thursday, includes for the first time the top leaders of four AsiaPacific countries — Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — and also for the first time, the bloc will identify China in its new “Strategic Concept”.
Troublemaking alliance
Certain NATO leaders lately have painted other countries as a threat, Zhang said.
“But the fact is it’s NATO itself that has made trouble in different parts of the world. We urge NATO to learn its lessons and not to use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to stoke worldwide bloc confrontation or a new Cold War, and not to look for imaginary enemies in the Asia-Pacific or artificially create contradictions and divisions,” the envoy said.
“We stress again that dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way to restore and consolidate peace. Ending hostilities at an early date is the keen aspiration of the international community,” he said, adding that China supports direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
“Attempts to weaponize the world economy and to coerce other countries into taking sides will artificially divide the international community, and make the world even less secure. Delaying and obstructing diplomatic negotiations for geopolitical purposes will only add fuel to the fire to intensify confrontation and magnify conflicts. Inevitably, it will end up hurting themselves,” Zhang said.