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Nato chief calls for alliance to ‘respond together’ on China ahead of talks
- Jens Stoltenberg says Beijing is not an adversary but ‘does not share our values’
- Leaders are expected to brand China as a ‘systemic’ challenge to Atlantic security
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Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has called for the transatlantic security alliance to strengthen its collective policy on China ahead of talks in Brussels on Monday.
The alliance is expected to brand China as a security risk for the first time at the leaders summit, a day after the Group of 7 wealthy nations agreed to a global infrastructure plan to counter Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, urged respect for human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and called for “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.
Nato has long been preoccupied with a primary goal of deterring Russia, but developments in recent years such as Chinese investments in European ports and military drills with Russia have prompted the alliance to address the rise of China.
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“What we have seen now over several years is a significant military build-up by China, investing heavily in new military capabilities including nuclear capabilities and also more advanced weapon systems,” Stoltenberg told CBS on Sunday.
While he insisted that there was no new Cold War and that China was “not an adversary”, the Nato chief repeated his view that “China does not share our values”.
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