NATO Summit, the Atlantic Alliance also arrives on the Pacific
After Eastern Europe, also Eastern Asia. After Russia, China. There Born he makes new friends, this time in Asia-Pacific and Beijing is watching angrily. On the other hand, it is clear from the beginning of the war in Ukraine that the real great concern of the United States is precisely the People’s Republic of China. And not so much the Vladimir Putin’s Russiadespite the invasion carried out last February near the east flank of the Old Continent.
What was a conviction based on many small moves and announcements, as well as maneuvers and reassurances by the White House aimed at reaffirming support for the Asian partners, now becomes something more. Yes, because at the NATO summit in Madrid which is staged on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 June there will be new guests, never seen before in a meeting of the Atlantic Alliance. It is about Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Four Asia-Pacific countries that represent the pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategy not only of the US, but now also of NATO. A strategy that for China means anti-Chinese.
Together with Joe Biden, Mario Draghi, Emmanuel Macron and all the other leaders of the NATO countries, there will therefore also be the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and the new South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol. In addition to the premieres of Australia and New Zealand, who in any case have been increasingly integrated into the Anglo-Saxon security architecture, for example through the intelligence alliance of the Five Eyes.
Because NATO also includes Japan and South Korea at the summit
But the participation of Tokyo and Seoul is another story and proves to the China that Washington’s real goal is to contain it. For the first time, the final document of the summit should contain an explicit reference to China as “systemic rival“The so-called Strategic Concept document will outline the Alliance’s priorities for the next decade. The previous version, published in 2010, did not mention China and referred to Russia as a partner, a wording that will be eliminated.
Allies will not go so far as to call China an adversary but should highlight China’s concerns in areas such as cybersecurity and disinformation, as well as control of critical infrastructure and compliance with the rules-based international order. NATO allies have been discussing the formulation of perspectives for months. The language about China has been a particularly difficult obstacle to balancing the different interests of the allies, with the United States taking a tough stance towards Beijing. Several European allies, including Germany, which has close economic and trade ties with China, sought a moderate stance in the document.
Several Asian nations, like their European border counterparts of Russia, have sought to forge closer security ties with the United States to avoid being dominated by the region’s main player. China has active border disputes with its neighbors, including Japan, India and Vietnam, and intensified military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan.
The risks for NATO’s Asian enlargement
And the participation of Kishida and Yoon represents a serious blow for Xi Jinping. In recent weeks, Kishida hosted a summit of the Quad dialogue on security, along with the United States, Australia and India, and gave the main speech at the Shangri-La dialogue, warning that “I myself have a strong sense of urgency that Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow.” Japan has already promised to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, in line with NATO targets.
It is no coincidence that Tokyo has been in the sights of Beijing for some time. In the Chinese state media, for some time very hard editorial and analysis on the foreign policy of the Kishida administration. In recent days, a flotilla of ships of the People’s Liberation Army completed the complete circumnavigation of the Japanese archipelago, also passing through the strategic straits. Also in recent days, Russian ships have also passed from Hokkaido to Okinawa. New episode after the joint exercise during the recent Quad Summit in Tokyo. The Minister of Defense, Nobuo Kishi, he called them an “encirclement” and “dangerous demonstrations of force” for the stability of the region.
And as far as Seoul is concerned, for now, it is mainly North Korea to show anger. Kim Jong-un prepares for a possible nuclear test. NATO is looking to the east, but the risk is that this will lead to new earthquakes.
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