NATO Secretary General warned of the danger China poses: “It is investing heavily in military equipment”

NATO leaders should forge a stronger common policy in the face of growing Chinese dominancethe secretary general of the military alliance said on Sunday on the eve of a summit of the organization in Brussels.

In an interview with Canadian public broadcaster CBC, Jens Stoltenberg pointed out that China has the second largest defense budget in the world, the largest navy and is investing heavily in new military equipment, which “affects our security”.

“China does not share our values. We see it in the way they crack down on democratic protests in Hong Kong, in the way they oppress minorities like Uyghurs “in western China, and in the way they use modern technology to monitor their people. In a way never seen before., explained Stoltenberg.

“All this therefore makes it important for NATO to strengthen our policy towards China,” he stressed.

The secretary general’s remarks come a few hours after the closing of the G7 summit held in Great Britain during which the group (made up of Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the UK) has taken a firmer stance towards China.

The countries are calling on Beijing to “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms” and allow free navigation in the South China Sea.

Stoltenberg also argued that it was important for other countries to deal with China on common issues such as climate change and gun control.

NATO Secretary General She also found “absolutely unacceptable” the arrest in China of two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, for espionage.

Ottawa has called the detention of the men “arbitrary” and believes it was in retaliation for the arrest by Canada, at the request of the United States, of a senior executive at Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.

“When a country does something it doesn’t like, it reacts aggressively,” Stoltenberg said of China.

The senior official admitted that there had been moments of tension within NATO during the administration of US magnate Donald Trump. However, he said the alliance remains “extremely robust and strong”. The former Republican president protested because he considered other countries’ contributions to NATO were not fair, and even came to consider the United States leaving the alliance.

But now, said Stoltenberg, “we have an American president, President Biden, who is strongly committed to NATO, to European security, and is ready to invest more in NATO.”

The US president arrived in Brussels from Britain on Sunday for Monday’s NATO summit.

KEEP READING: