NATO NO-GO ON COLD WAR WITH CHINA
BORIS Johnson insisted the West was not seeking a new Cold War with China as Nato declared Beijing a security threat.
The alliance used a summit in Brussels to show a united front on China’s cruel treatment of the Uighur Muslims and accused it of attempts to undermine the world order.
The warning to Beijing comes as Joe Biden said “America is back” on the global stage after four years of turmoil under Donald Trump.
The Nato statement, signed by 30 leaders, stopped short of calling China a rival but said its goals and actions bring “systemic challenges”.
The President, fresh from last week’s G7 summit in Cornwall, made clear he would be pushing Western allies to speak out over China’s human rights record, trade practices and hostile military actions.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg called the Brussels summit a “new chapter in our transAtlantic relationship” .
Before the summit, Mr Biden said: “Nato is critically important for US interests in and of itself.
“If there weren’t one, we’d have to invent one. I just want Europe to know the US is there”.
Nato leaders warned against China’s “coercive policies”, its development of nuclear missiles and use of disinformation.
Before yesterday’s summit the PM said: “I don’t think anybody around the table today wants to descend into a new Cold War with China.”
The increasing hostility of Russia was also high on the agenda, with Mr Biden set to travel from the summit to meet Vladimir Putin in Geneva tomorrow.
Mr Johnson said the US President would be taking some “pretty tough messages” to the Russian leader.
“I’m always hopeful that things will improve with Russia but… I’m afraid that so far it’s been pretty disappointing from the UK point of view,” he said.
I don’t think anybody wants a Cold War with China
BORIS JOHNSON ON BRUSSELS SUMMIT