NATO members held a discussion on Wednesday 2 December with several partners – Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden and the EU – what needs to be done to deal with China’s rise to power.
“We discussed what more NATO can do with our partners”, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting. He clarified that this included: sharing information and insights; promoting common approaches, including in cyberspace; strengthening global rules and norms, for instance on arms control.
While China is not an adversary of the Alliance and its rise to power may provide new opportunities, “China is undermining human rights. It bullies other countries and is increasingly engaging in a systemic competition with us”, said Mr Stoltenberg.
“The community of like-minded democracies must therefore work together”, said the Secretary-General, who was of the opinion that in 2020, the Alliance had developed both its understanding of China and a growing convergence of views, both within the Alliance and with its partners.
At their meeting, the Allies also adopted a report on China, which assesses the country’s military development, its growing activity in the Alliance's neighbourhood, and the implications for NATO resilience, including when it comes to emerging technologies and critical infrastructure. China has the second largest defence budget in the world and is investing heavily in new abilities, according to Mr Stoltenberg.
As evidence of China’s growing importance to the Alliance, part of the report of the Panel of Experts for NATO 2030 is devoted to China (see EUROPE 12613/22). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)