NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg changed his tune again, saying that NATO does not regard China as an "adversary." He said that China will soon surpass the United States and become the world's largest economy. After that, NATO will need to "engage" with China on many issues.

On June 28, local time, the NATO summit was held as scheduled in Madrid, Spain. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg changed his tune again, saying that NATO does not regard China as an "opponent." He said that China will soon surpass the United States and become the world's largest economy. After that, NATO will need to "engage" with China on many issues.

Stoltenberg’s attitude towards China can be described as “sudden change”. On the 27th, Stoltenberg made a high-profile statement that NATO's "new strategic concept" would involve China for the first time. He proudly stated that the document "will lead NATO into an era of strategic competition." The NATO summit also specially invited Japan, South Korea and other Asia-Pacific countries, demonstrating NATO's determination to enter the Asia-Pacific region. Because the intentions of the EU summit, the G7 summit and the NATO summit were too obvious against China, various countries expressed concerns about this. South Korea immediately refuted the rumors, saying that although it would participate in the meetings, NATO's "new strategic concept" had nothing to do with South Korea. South Korea only We want to reach a security cooperation agreement with NATO on the peninsula issue.

After Biden announced the G7 infrastructure plan, differences first emerged within Europe. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he opposed cutting off ties with China over so-called issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Germany also "opposes decoupling." Germany believes that the West should not confront China and Russia, and says that China and the West still need to cooperate on global issues such as climate change. British Prime Minister Johnson said that it is necessary to "protect common values" but also "do business with China." He said that the West should try to "find a balance" between the two. Belgian Prime Minister De Croo said that China is an "important trading partner" of the EU and should not turn its back on China like it turned its back on Russia.

It is said that NATO is also seriously divided because of China. Some people say that "NATO's operating area is only north of the Tropic of Cancer. It has no restrictions from the east or the west." But then someone reminded, "NATO cannot afford to ignore China. ". The United States and the United Kingdom have always advocated "talking about the challenges posed by China in an unprecedented way," but Germany and France have continued to "step on the brakes" and hope for more cautious formulations. Czech and Hungary also strongly oppose the use of so-called "Strategic convergence" defines Sino-Russian relations .

Finally, a compromise statement emerged, that is, "systemic challenges." In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that China's development is an opportunity for the world and not a challenge for anyone. China urges NATO to abandon the Cold War mentality of creating imaginary enemies and engaging in camp confrontation and stop trying to mess up Asia and the world.

NATO is at a critical juncture in its fight against Russia. If China is divided, it will obviously have a great impact on the entire situation. It is understandable that Stoltenberg changed his tune at this moment. However, while affirming the importance of China, Stoltenberg also did not forget to sow discord between China and Russia. He claimed that it was "disappointing" that China and Russia were getting closer, that it was "disappointing" that China did not "condemn" Russia, and that it was "disappointing" that China had "false narratives" against NATO and the West.

G7 is worthy of being a "good sister" of NATO. Although the G7 communiqué mentioned China 14 times and made unprecedented severe criticism of China's internal affairs, the G7 also approached China, hoping that China could make a move to limit the price of Russian oil. Partial force. It is hard not to suspect that the G7 and NATO have negotiated to drive a wedge between China and Russia.

It is worth mentioning that the United States also attended this NATO summit. I don’t know what Biden will think after listening to Stoltenberg’s words, especially the part about China soon becoming the world’s largest economy. In fact, China is the largest trading partner of many European countries and major countries. Although Europe and the United States are unwilling to admit it, their economy and trade have long been closely related to China and are inseparable. The United States has actively promoted "decoupling" from China since 2018. Sino-Western relations have gone through four years of quarrels and bickering, and will continue to do so. This is true even when China is the second largest economy, and even more so after it becomes the largest economy.