China hits back at NATO

July 2, 2022 - 11:22

After NATO declared Beijing as a security threat for the first time, saying the country is a major challenge to it’s interests, the People's Republic of China hit out at the U.S.-led military alliance. 

The United States and some of it’s Western allies alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg used the NATO summit in Spain to level all sorts of allegations against China. The accusations are also included in the NATO summit’s communique dubbed “Strategic Concept”, which the Chinese Mission to the European Union denounced as being “filled with Cold war thinking and ideological bias,”

NATO has indeed attacked sovereign countries and been involved in countless wars, something that was not lost in the scathing criticism of the military alliance by China’s mission to the EU. 

Its spokesperson said, “NATO claims itself to be a defensive organization that upholds the rules-based international order, but it has bypassed the UN Security Council and waged wars against sovereign states, creating huge casualties and leaving tens of millions displaced.”

NATO has also claimed that its “defense zone” will not go beyond the North Atlantic, as the spokesperson pointed out, “but it has flexed its muscle in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years and sought to stir up bloc confrontation here, as it has done in Europe. Who’s challenging global security and undermining world peace? Are there any wars or conflicts over the years where NATO is not involved?” 

A very good question. “China has never initiated a war or invaded an inch of other countries’ land. We do not interfere in others’ internal affairs and export ideology, still less engage in long-arm jurisdiction, unilateral sanctions or economic coercion.”

It’s a bit like how the Islamic Republic of Iran has never “initiated a war or invaded an inch of other countries’ land”, yet like China, Iran and other sovereign nations are regularly harassed by the United States and it’s allies despite upholding the rule of law and promoting peace and stability in the region. 

That appears to be the problem with the U.S. and some of it’s allies. They don’t like the idea of peace and stability, which is what many people have learnt from the latest NATO summit in Spain. 

U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington will provide another $800 million in weapons and military aid to Ukraine, taking the total to over $6.1 billion.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said London would provide another one billion pounds ($1.22 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine, taking British military support to more than 2.3 billion pounds, second only to U.S. arms deliveries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his country will provide more than three dozen new armored personnel and some new drone cameras to Ukraine. 

What happened to peace and security? Not a single word was mentioned in the summit about a possible peace initiative to end the crisis in Europe. 

And are the arms enough to help Ukraine? The adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak, says Kyiv needs 1,000 155mm-caliber howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 1,000 drones.

Ukrainian officials are saying they are losing a lot of soldiers in the Eastern Donbas region and military experts are saying the weapons systems Ukraine is receiving needs months of training to operate. 

Essentially, Kyiv needs Soviet-era weapons and a lot of ammunition to fire which it’s military forces are trained to use. The advanced weapons systems that Washington is sending could take months to be used on the frontline. 

It’s another political tactic by the Biden administration: win the support of the U.S. military-industrial complex, which is making a massive profit, for all the weapons it sends, they are paid taxpayers money to manufacture new ones. On American mainstream media almost every pundit that discusses the Ukraine war is linked to the military-industrial complex, giving Biden a political boost with voters ahead of the midterm elections, should they buy into what the pundits are saying on air.  

At the same time, it ensures Ukraine can continue fighting with the absolutely massive amount of money being spent, enough to keep fighting but just about right to try and ensure a stalemate for now. 

The U.S. and the UK in particular are trying to persuade reluctant European nations that the best way to end the conflict in Ukraine is by prolonging the conflict in Europe. 

Speaking to reporters President Biden appears to have told his allies who tried to push for a peace deal to be ready for a long conflict saying "we are going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes." He declined to give more details.

Asked by a reporter to explain if that means indefinite support from the U.S., or whether the time will come when Washington decides to try and end the conflict Biden said "I don't know what -- how it's going to end,"

No strategy on ending the worst crisis in Europe since the Second World War despite the White House spearheading NATO’s eastward expansion that triggered the conflict. 

Asked about the rising cost of gas and food prices affecting motorists and households back home? Biden said “ultimately the reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia," and then said "Russia, Russia, Russia. The reason why the food crisis exists is because of Russia."

That may have been the umpteenth time Biden has blamed Russia and the U.S. President will continue blaming Russia all the way to the November midterm elections, where the Republicans appear set to retake control of congress. If the conflict ends now, Biden will have nothing to blame but himself. The same can be said for UK PM Boris Johnson. It’s vital for the White House and Downing Street that the war continues. 

The alliance also agreed to take in Finland and Sweden but how exactly does this help Ukraine? 

The U.S. and the UK added to the tension by committing new troops to Eastern Europe. 

And NATO chief Stoltenberg even declared the alliance is to increase its forces on high alert by more than sevenfold to “300,000”, compared to 40,000 troops that currently make up the existing quick reaction force, the NATO Response Force. 

But that baffled European Leaders who didn’t have an idea what Stoltenberg was referring to when they were asked for comment. This forced NATO military officials to backtrack on the Secretary-General’s statement, saying the number is a “concept” that the U.S.-led military alliance hopes to have in place by the summer of next year. 

In essence, NATO is about creating tension and with the U.S. heading the old British colonial policy of trying to rule and divide different regions of the world. 

Which is why the Chinese official at the country’s mission to the EU called on NATO “to stop provoking confrontation by drawing ideological lines, abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game approach, and stop spreading disinformation and provocative statements against China.”

But as with all independent countries on the planet; at the same time, they are closely monitoring their adversaries activities. 

“Since NATO positions China as a "systemic challenge," we have to pay close attention and respond in a coordinated way. When it comes to acts that undermine China’s interests, we will make firm and strong responses.” the Chinese official said. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian summed up NATO by saying it should “stop trying to mess up Asia and the world after messing up Europe.”

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