NATO Secretary General: China poses major challenge to NATO’s security

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) released a reform report called “NATO 2030” on Tuesday (Dec. 1), which states that NATO must think more seriously about how to deal with China and its military rise in the future.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said China’s rise poses a major challenge to NATO’s security and called on allies to reach a common understanding on the issue. He said, “China is investing massively in new weapons, from the Arctic to Africa, it’s getting closer and closer to us, it doesn’t share our values, and it’s trying to intimidate other countries.”

The report was prepared by a group called the “Wise Men” and includes 138 recommendations. A NATO diplomat who read the report said, “China is no longer the benign trading partner the West wants it to be; it is the rising power of this century and NATO must respond in due course.”

The diplomat also quoted the report as saying that NATO’s response is to maintain its technological superiority over China and to protect its computer networks and infrastructure.

The report suggests that NATO could build close relationships with non-NATO countries, such as Australia, and focus more on deterrence capabilities in outer space as China develops space assets.