China now officially ‘threat’ to the West
China has been branded a threat by Nato, which described its policies as a ‘‘challenge’’ to the interests, security and values of the alliance, as Australia said it had been economically coerced by the communist nation.
The 30-member security organisation approved a new blueprint for the next decade yesterday, condemning China for the first time in its more than 70-year history. ‘‘[China’s] malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation target allies and harm alliance security,’’ Nato said in its first planning document in a decade. It warned the Chinese government was ‘‘rapidly expanding’’ its nuclear capability without increasing transparency or engaging in good faith in arms control. China’s stated ambitions and coercive policies ‘‘challenge our interests, security and values’’, Nato said. It also accused China of using its economic leverage to ‘‘create strategic dependencies and enhance its influence. It strives to subvert the rules-based international order . . .’’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Nato leaders China aimed to become the ‘‘most powerful nation in the world’’, adding a strengthening of relations between Beijing and Moscow posed a risk to all democratic nations. ‘‘Just as Russia seeks to recreate a Russian or Soviet empire, the Chinese government is seeking . . . alliances to undermine what has historically been the Western alliance in places like the Indo-Pacific.’’
He said Australia had been subjected to ‘‘economic coercion’’ by China and urged democratic leaders to pursue trade diversification.
The US yesterday accused several companies and research institutes in China of supporting Russia’s military. The Commerce Department added five of the companies to a trade restrictions list as punishment.