‘We’re in it together’, Antony Blinken tells Nato after flurry of China sanctions

Name: US, UK, EU and Canada imposed sanctions ‘based on lies’, says China
Uploaded: 2021-03-23T14:30:14.000Z
Duration: 1 min 26 s
Description: US, UK, EU and Canada imposed sanctions ‘based on lies’, says China

US secretary of state calls for collective action to tackle big challenges, from climate to ‘autocratic states’

China set to be on the agenda when European leaders and Blinken meet on Wednesday, analyst says

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Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (left) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confer after a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Finbarr Bermingham

Published: 10:30pm, 23 Mar 2021Updated: 10:53am, 24 Mar 2021

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used his first official European engagement on Tuesday to talk up America’s renewed embrace of the transatlantic alliance, a day after Western nations engaged in a fiery, coordinated exchange of sanctions with China.

The Biden administration’s top diplomat is in Brussels to meet foreign ministers from the Nato countries, ahead of further talks with European Union leaders on Wednesday.

Addressing his Nato counterparts, his message was clear – and in stark contrast to the previous US administration.

“Whether it is tackling some of the new challenges like climate or the cyber realm, the rise of autocratic states and the challenges that they pose, we have a profound interest in doing it together, doing it collectively, relying on collective security, and that’s what Nato is all about,” Blinken said, adding that Nato should be “focused on some of the challenges that China poses to the rules-based international order”.

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US, UK, EU and Canada imposed sanctions ‘based on lies’, says China

While issues closer to European borders, such as Russian aggression, are set to dominate the EU talks, China is unlikely to be far from concerns.

“Considering recent events between the EU and China, I’d say that China will be a main point of discussion between the US and other allies,” said Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese defence policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.