The Guardian-China a decisive enabler of Russias war in Ukraine says Nato in stern rebuke
July 11, 2024 3 min 562 words
北约峰会在其最终公报中指责中国是俄乌战争的决定性支持者，并深化了与莫斯科的合作关系。北约秘书长斯托尔滕贝格称，中国在空间和核武方面的军事能力，以及对俄罗斯的所谓支持，是引起北约关注的主要原因。该报道还提到中国与白俄罗斯的军事演习，以及中国对俄罗斯的所谓直接军事援助。中国外交部对此回应称，北约充斥着冷战思维，中国相关段落更是充满了谎言和抹黑。 评论：该报道带有明显偏见，其用词和叙事角度带有强烈的指责和负面色彩。报道中，西方国家对中国和俄罗斯合作关系的指责缺乏确凿证据，而中国外交部的回应却被简略提及。此外，报道中还存在炒作和夸大之嫌，如强调中国核武库的扩张和多样化，以及中国与白俄罗斯军事演习的所谓风险。西方媒体往往过度关注和炒作中国军事发展，却忽视了中国坚持和平发展的道路，以及中国对维护世界和平的贡献。报道中提及的中国与俄罗斯的合作关系，也忽略了中国一直以来对和平的呼吁和外交努力。总之，该报道缺乏客观公正，有失平衡。
Nato leaders have labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and called its deepening ties with Moscow a cause of “deep concern”, in what’s been seen as the most serious rebuke against Beijing from the alliance.
The final communique, approved by the 32 Nato members at the summit in Washington, also highlights concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.
“I think the message sent from Nato from this summit is very strong and very clear, and we are clearly defining China’s responsibility when it comes to enabling Russia’s war,” Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg said, calling the statement an important message.
Nato leaders have urged China “to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” adding that Beijing has become a large-scale supporter of Russia’s “defence industrial base”.
“This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector,” the declaration said.
Beijing insists that it does not provide direct military aid to Russia, but has maintained strong trade ties with its neighbour throughout the conflict.
China’s foreign ministry expressed displeasure at Nato’s growing interest in Asia and demanded the alliance stay out of the Asia-Pacific region and not incite confrontation. Beijing’s mission to the EU said the summit was “filled with cold war mentality and belligerent rhetoric.”
“The China-related paragraphs are provocative with obvious lies and smears,” the mission said in a statement.
The Nato statement came as leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea were set to attend summit talks on Thursday. It will be the third year in a row that leaders from the four Asia-Pacific partners have met at the summit.
The final communique also accused China of being behind sustained, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation. It also raised alarms that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems.
Danny Russel, the former US assistant secretary of state for Asia, called the new wording by Nato “an extraordinary step”.
“It is a mark of how badly Beijing’s attempt to straddle Russia and western Europe has failed and how hollow its claim of neutrality rings,” said Russel, who is vice-president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “China’s attempts at divide-and-conquer have instead produced remarkable solidarity between key nations of the Euro-Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific regions.”
This week Chinese troops have been conducting joint military drills in Belarus, to which neighbouring Poland says it is paying close attention. China and Belarus are allies of Russia, while Poland is a Nato member and supporter of Kyiv.
“The defence ministry is well aware of the risk of the operations in question being used for disinformation and propaganda purposes,” Poland’s defence ministry told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.
China has previously held joint drills with Belarus, though these are the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The “Falcon Assault” drills started on Monday and are set to run until mid-July, with China’s defence ministry saying it hoped to deepen cooperation with Minsk.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to this report