NATO foreign ministers discussed the challenges posed by China on Wednesday 30 November.
“We remain clear-headed”, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after the meeting in Bucharest, where Allies discussed “the long-term challenges posed by China to NATO’s interests, values and security”, and how to build resilience.
He said the Allies had looked into China’s “ambitious” military developments, its technological advances and its growing cyber and hybrid activities.
Stressing that China was “not an adversary”, Mr Stoltenberg explained that the Allies would continue to engage with China when it was in their interest, “including to convey (their) common position on Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.
“We will continue, of course, to trade and engage economically with China, but we have to be aware of our dependencies”, he said, adding that there was a need to assess these dependencies, including those regarding supply chains, technologies and infrastructure, and to “reduce our vulnerabilities, and manage the risks”.
According to Mr Stoltenberg, the ministers emphasised the importance of meeting NATO’s resilience guidelines and maintaining the technological lead.
He added that cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region and with the EU should be further strengthened.
Ukraine. In addition, referring to Tuesday’s dinner between the Allies and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Mr Stoltenberg called for Russia not to be “underestimated”, despite Ukraine’s “significant progress” on the ground.
He reiterated that it was essential for there to be continued Allied military support for Ukraine, “in particular additional air defences”, and that they would also provide non-lethal aid, including fuel and generators.
When asked again about Ukraine’s membership of the Alliance, Mr Stoltenberg said that the most important thing was to help Ukraine defend itself. In his opinion, “it is important now to proceed step by step. The most important and urgent step is to ensure that Ukraine wins, and that is exactly what we are doing”. “There is a big difference between nothing and full membership, which means we have to develop an increasingly close partnership, both in political and practical terms”, he explained, saying this would strengthen Ukrainian institutions and help them move from Soviet-era equipment standards to modern NATO standard equipment doctrines.
The ministers also met with their counterparts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova, “three valuable NATO partners who are under pressure from Russia”, according to the Secretary General. “We discussed our common security concerns and ways to strengthen our cooperation. The Allies have agreed to intensify our tailored support, including capacity building, reforms and training, so that we can help improve their security and defence institutions”, said Mr Stoltenberg in summary. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)