Why are NATO and China fighting over Ukraine? | NATO News

EXPLAINER

NATO allies accuse China of being a “decisive facilitator” of Russia’s war against Ukraine at their summit in Washington, DC.

The leaders of NATO countries described China as a “decisive facilitator” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, in the harshest criticism ever made by the alliance in Beijing over the conflict.

While NATO members and China have traded barbs before, this statement – ​​part of a statement issued Wednesday by the alliance during its 75th anniversary summit in Washington, D.C. – the alliance had previously refrained from such explicit allegations against Beijing over the war in Ukraine.

Here’s more about the allegations made by NATO allies against China, how Beijing responded and what comes next:

What did NATO accuse China of doing in Ukraine?

• During the NATO summit, which began on Tuesday and ends on Thursday, the leaders of all 32 NATO members signed a 38-point declaration.
• The document accuses China of allowing the war in Ukraine through its “unlimited” partnership and support for Russia’s defense industry.
• The boundless partnership was announced in February 2022, following a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin, days before Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine. It declares that “there are no limits” to the friendship between the two countries and that “there are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation”.
• The NATO statement explicitly calls on China to “cease all material and political support for Russia’s war effort,” including the supply of dual-use materials that can be used in weapons.
• “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] cannot allow the biggest war in Europe in recent history without this having a negative impact on its interests and reputation”, says the statement.

Given that 32 countries must agree to the text, the unusually harsh language about China in this NATO summit statement (as well as, less surprisingly, harsh words for North Korea and Iran)

China “has become a decisive facilitator of Russia’s war against Ukraine”, NATO allies say pic.twitter.com/yVWb57aE1I

-Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) July 10, 2024

How did China respond?

• A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union released a statement Thursday in response, saying the statement is full of “Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric.”
• Furthermore, the spokesperson said that the content of the statement regarding China is full of “provocations, lies, incitement and defamation”.
• “China’s central position on the Ukraine issue is to promote peace talks and political solutions, which has been widely recognized and appreciated by the international community,” according to the spokesperson.
• In February 2023, China presented a 12-point plan to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia has since described it as a potential roadmap for negotiations to end the war, Ukraine has rejected the Chinese proposal.

What else has NATO accused China of?

• NATO also accused China, in its summit statement, of posing “systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security” through cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation.
• The alliance accused China of working together with Russia to “undermine and reshape the rules-based international order,” calling this a “cause for deep concern.” Russia and China have long accused the West of hypocrisy when it comes to implementing international law.
• At the summit, NATO also accused China of engaging in “coercive tactics and efforts” to divide the alliance.
• While the statement does not flesh out that claim, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said in recent days that Ankara is eager to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security forum led by China and Russia. Turkey, a member of NATO, has been the SCO’s dialogue partner since 2012.
• On Tuesday, Xi also met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Hungary is a member of NATO.
• NATO’s allegations that Beijing is trying to harm the alliance and its members stem from “the hot box of low-intensity operations that China is waging against the West,” said Mathieu Boulegue, a consultant at Chatham House, based in London. think tank, told Al Jazeera.
• Boulegue said China appears to be using the same tactics, such as espionage and economic subversion, as Russia, although with less intensity for now.

Why are tensions between NATO and China rising now?

• While NATO’s rebuke of China “could very well have happened last year,” there are also new reasons behind the intensifying dispute, said Boulegue, who has researched Russia-NATO relations and Russia-China defense relations.

• Boulegue said NATO has shown increasing interest in expanding its mission, including increasing its geographic influence. To this end, NATO seeks collaboration with Asia-Pacific nations that are allies of the West.
• “A good entry point for NATO to analyze China’s relationship with the Indo-Pacific is to analyze its involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Boulegue said. There is also more evidence of China’s involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine this year, he said.
• This is not the first time that NATO has accused China of supporting Russia’s war. But previously, this claim came from individual leaders – not from a document signed by each of the alliance’s 32 member states. On May 31, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused China of “supporting Russia’s war economy”.
• On May 25, Stoltenberg told a German newspaper: “China says it wants to maintain good relations with the West. At the same time, however, Beijing is fueling the war in Europe. You can’t have it both ways.”

What could be the next frontier for tensions between NATO and China?

• NATO on Thursday hosted the leaders of New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, as well as the deputy prime minister of Australia, for a meeting aimed at strengthening the alliance’s relationship with its allies in the Asia-Pacific and, in effect, its presence in a region where China has long dominated.
• The summit communiqué details NATO’s plans to launch four projects in collaboration with Asia-Pacific partners to support Ukraine, strengthen cyber defense cooperation, combat disinformation and work on artificial intelligence.
• On Wednesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing opposes “NATO moving beyond its characterization as a regional defensive alliance.” The spokesperson accused NATO of “inserting itself into the Asia-Pacific to incite confrontation and rivalry and disrupt prosperity and stability in this region”.
• At the same time, China this week held military exercises in Belarus, near the border of NATO ally Poland – war games that Warsaw said it was watching closely.
• Boulegue said the summit declaration represented an incremental change in the equation between NATO and China. This is a gap that, according to analysts, will only deepen.