My Take | Hey, Nato boss man, keep your hands off the Asia-Pacific region
The West’s unspoken assumption is that Asians cannot be trusted to manage their own affairs, at least when Western interests are involved
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has failed to deter or stop Russia from invading and annexing Ukrainian territories, yet it wants to expand into Asia-Pacific to take on China. Most of its European member states – Germany even has slight negative growth this year – is mired in economic slowdown, social malaise and political instability, yet they want to double, more or less, their national defence spending. Where will they find the money?
That’s why Nato chief Mark Rutte raised a few eyebrows among independent observers, especially those from Asia, when he told an audience in London this week that what happened in the Pacific was Nato’s business too. It is?
“We cannot think that there is one theatre, which is the Euro-Atlantic theatre,” he said. “We have to be conscious of the fact that this is all interconnected with what is happening in the Pacific.”
He added, “They are supporting, as we all know, Russia’s war effort against Ukraine”, thereby deliberately lumping China with Iran and North Korea. The latter two did offer materials and troops, not China.
Well, since everything is connected in this world, Nato could argue the world is its oyster. Rutte is starting to sound like his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg, who had claimed a Nato mandate over the Indo-Pacific reaching the Middle East and Africa!
Rutte also claimed that the West’s partners in the region, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, were “really worried about what’s happening in the Pacific”. Worried enough to do a Cold War redux? That’s not clear, especially with the Japanese and South Koreans. Has Rutte taken a poll?