Nato chief praises US for China policy shift under Donald Trump amid ‘dangerous times’

Security alliance since 2017 ‘has gone a long way in helping European allies fully appreciate the challenges posed’ by Beijing, says Jens Stoltenberg

2024 Republican front runner credited with inspiring Nato members to raise their defence contributions

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Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: NATO/dpa

Published: 6:30am, 1 Feb 2024

Nato’s secretary general on Wednesday praised American leadership for pushing the transatlantic security alliance’s members to act on threats from China, effectively validating former US president Donald Trump’s stance towards the Asian giant.

“You shifted your policy on China in 2017 under President Trump, and since then, Nato has gone a long way in helping European allies fully appreciate the challenges posed by China and respond to it,” Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, in Washington.

Stoltenberg described “the China challenge” as a task the US could not do alone.

“And you don’t have to,” he said. “Through Nato, the US has the support of 31 allies and the vast network of partners, especially in the Indo-Pacific”.

The remarks followed fresh criticism of the alliance by Trump, the front runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

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