Beijing accuses Nato of overstressing ‘China threat theory’

Beijing accuses Nato of exaggerating the threat from China and “creating confrontation”, after a vow from the Western associates to work together to counter the “systemic challenges” modeled by its policies.

Nato leaders made the commitment on Monday, as US President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s long-haul ties at his first summit with the allies.

The leaders said China’s progressively emphatic actions in building a nuclear resource and space and cyber warfare competencies threatened the international order.

In a fuming response, a statement from the Chinese mission to the European Union called for Nato to “view China’s development rationally, stop exaggerating various forms of ‘China threat theory’ and not to use China’s legitimate interests and legal rights as excuses for manipulating group politics (while) artificially creating confrontations”.

“Slander of China’s peaceful development, a misjudgment of the international situation and its own role, and it is the continuation of a Cold War mentality and the group’s political psychology at work” further added in the statement.

Military strains have amplified over the last year between China and opposing powers including the United States and India, with flashpoints like the Himalayan border, Taiwan, and the South China Sea.

China’s military budget, the second largest in the world after the US, is set to increase by 6.8 percent in 2021, the finance ministry proclaimed in March.

Whereas Beijing has poured billions into its space Programme in an effort to make up ground on inventors Russia and the United States.

“The allies would seek to cooperate with China on global issues like climate change but decried Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance on other issues”, stated General Jens Stoltenberg Secretary Nato.