NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is seeking cooperation with “like-minded” countries in the Pacific to face a rising China in a speech on Monday. Stoltenberg said the alliance should take a more global approach, both militarily and politically.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the German Marshall Fund, Stoltenberg hyped the threat of China. The NATO chief’s talking points on Beijing sound similar to the rhetoric coming out of the White House.
“The rise of China is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power, heating up the race for economic and technological supremacy, multiplying the threats to open societies and individual freedoms, and increasing the competition over our values and our way of life,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg’s list of “like-minded” countries in the Pacific included Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. He said NATO needs to work with these countries to “defend the global rules and institutions that have kept us safe for decades, to set norms and standards in space and cyberspace, on new technologies and global arms control, and ultimately to stand up for a world built on freedom and democracy, not on bullying and coercion.”
Stoltenberg also said that China is working together “more and more” with Russia and warned this will have security consequences for NATO allies.
This kiwi says “Piss off back to Europe you grey faced warmonger”
NATO seems to be off of its territory – didn’t we used to have SEATO to make its beat there.
US NATO puppet, pathetic NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, carries US hegemony and warmongering towards China.
NATO enemy was the Warsaw pact, witch was dissolved in December 1991, but NATO continued, expanded towards Russia`s borders and are waging war where ever the US demands.
NATO is a US military force, in the middle east, Europe, Africa, Arctics, Latin America….and soon the Pacific by waging aggression against China.
Ah, excuse me fellas, but the WARSAW PACT dissolved decades ago and so you are no longer needed since https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0e8d2e1ea7eeef501ebc3d941bc51032c7657e58f2ec6847ca27f68fd63e1bab.jpg your mission has been completed. Please dissolve. Immediately.
“The rise of China is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power”.
That is why the world is heading for another world war. It is about interests, not “open societies and individual freedoms”.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Can the world afford another war? At present it is US led NATO that wants war if it does not get its way. Not China or Russia. So, can US afford the war, and come out of it unscathed. Wars cannot be fought by political mud-slinging — the way we fight everything, from economy to epidemics.
We are being prepared for one. Covid 19 came from a funny bat.
I do not care if it came from outer space! The way this is handled is a clown show. And I do not mean Trump alone.
Deemed too expensive , we did nothing to contain the spread, nothing to isolate infected, and are using testing as some form of welfare benefit. Thus— let us be smarter then Chinese, and shut everything down! Any expectation from this move? Your guess as good as mine.
Now through a combination of downplaying the threat, and population anxious to work — we have another irrational movement — let us open up and see what happens.
Let’s try running a war like this. By social media.
The world can’t afford another war. Unfortunately that has never stopped nations plunging into disastrous wars they cannot afford. All wars are about power. To hold on to power the US and NATO will convince themselves they can win.
I know you are right. I keep on hoping we are all wrong and that the elites are not suicidal. Once upon a time, the elites would start a war, thinking they were safe. And at the end of each Western centric war — deals were made that saved the money of the rich by hoisting the debt on the losing side.
This nuclear thing has to make them scared. For their own lives. Neither side will want another to escape unscathed. And both have means to exact reprisal.
Acting and behaving like there is no room for compromise — tells me these are early days.
True enough; we are already at war without the shooting part, and its a massive economic disaster.
However, a shooting war… the tech isn’t there yet to neutralize all of China;s 270 nukes or prevent massive conventional losses.
There are very few and short period when the US was not engaged in some kind of military action. Just like any other society, the US is captive to its history of Native American genocide, slavery, Civil War and the “glorious” Spanish-American war. Sorry, we just do not do introspection.
I remember one of those periods. I was in the Army from 1973 thru 76. We were withdrawing from Viet Nam and I was only on alert one time. That was when Nixon did the airlift to save Israel’s a$$ in ’73 and I had just got out of basic training. Talk about being scared shitless. Thankfully, I ended up spending three years in relative boredom. How things have changed.
Someone give the old guy a geography lesson: the Atlantic is nowhere near the Pacific. And notice the primary issues he brings up are not what China is doing, but what they will be able to do someday if they decide to. To him and many other murderous fools, we must go to war with China to reverse the trend of them doing capitalism a lot better than “open societies.”
Must the world choose between siding with a somewhat authoritarian but mostly peaceful and prosperous China, and a proudly authoritarian, aggressive and economically unsustainable US and allied regimes? It’s just not a difference that fighting over will lead to distinction, extinction perhaps.
Agree, but I would question whether China is authoritarian. Far more Chinese trust their government than probably any people in any other country. We overlook that the Chinese ethos is very different from our own supposed values of freedom and democracy. Nor is China a capitalist country, but it is a free-market economy in which–unlike ours–capitalists do not control government policies.
VSOA – Vassal States of America.
The puppet and puppet master isn’t even trying to hide the strings anymore.
Saudi Arabia flattened a Shiite city, no big deal, in fact we rush to defend the Saudis. China passes a law against sedition and foreign influence in their own territory and it’s a 3 alarm fire.
“The Beijing regime passes a law against people in a semi-autonomous territory expressing opinions the regime doesn’t like, in violation of the agreement under which it got some control over that semi-autonomous territory”
Fixed, no charge.
My understanding is the new law is based on an agreement that was worked out between the PRC and the Brits prior to HK being handed back to China. But that particular part of the agreement was never enacted into law/policy. I’m open to correction.
I’m not sure what there is to “correct.”
Per the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed by the Chinese and British heads of state and ratified by their respective national legislatures as a treaty:
“The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be vested with executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication. The laws currently in force in Hong Kong will remain basically unchanged.”
“The current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged, and so will the life-style. Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief will be ensured by law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Private property, ownership of enterprises, legitimate right of inheritance and foreign investment will be protected by law.”
“The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is responsible for the maintenance of public order. Military forces sent by the Central People’s Government, stationed in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, for the purpose of defence shall not interfere in the internal affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”
The term of the Declaration is 50 years. There are still 27 years remaining under it.
Of course, the PREMISE of the Joint Declaration is faulty insofar as it states that the People’s Republic of China would “recover” Hong Kong and “resume the exercise of sovereignty” over Hong Kong when it never, at any point prior to 1997, HAD any claim to sovereignty over Hong Kong. The PRC didn’t even exist at the time Hong Kong became a British colony.
Oh please, Thomas. In the era of Western “colonialism”, ie imperial conquest and theft, imperialists — led by Britain — used their military superiority to subjugate China and for Britain to “colonize” Hong Kong.
“Semi-autonomous” territory is post-colonial bullsh*t to which China acquiesced to get the UK the f*ck out of Hong Kong in a “semi-orderly” manner. And the current “democracy movement” is just more US regime change trouble-making, in a futile attempt to stall China’s — unstoppable — rise to global preeminence. You’re just catapulting the BS.
Get over it. Hong Kong belongs to China, and they can do with it and its population whatever the hell they want to. In light of Hong Kong’s value as a commercial powerhouse and bridge to the Western economy, they have been exceedingly judicious in exercising their sovereign authority, especially in light of the subversive trouble-making by the US. The Chinese leadership know that they hold all the cards, and their strength is demonstrated by their restraint … and patience. This contrasts with the US’s policy of global bullying which just emphasizes US weakness and accelerating decline.
China has a more effective system, smarter leadership, smarter people, and more of them. And a five-thousand year tradition of communitarian social harmony. The US by comparison has a piddling 250 year “history” of genocide, slavery, “rugged individualism” — ie a war of all against all — under a phony, money-corrupted, “constitutional republic”, now degenerate, politically paralyzed by partisan warfare, and descending into self-abnegating cultural warfare as the neoliberal elite strip the cancerous husk bare.
We are witnessing in real time the end of the American experiment amidst the death throes of Empire, with the vast majority of the US population in deep denial. The only question remaining: Bang or Whimper?
Pack your bags NOW, and get out while the getting is good … if you can.
That’s a lot of word salad just to say “Hong Kong belongs to the Beijing regime because I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnttttttttt it to.”
And who is he? NATI is commanded by Supreme Commander, ALWAYS by NATO’s own Charter, a US General appointed by US President. There is no consensus governance. The only thing NATO members can do is drag feet on funding, and their own military spending. Forcing US to be the funding behind the organization.
Trump naturally does not like that. Now, sad spokesperson for US Supreme Commander must say what the decision-making authority says.
Why would anyone think it unusual? During NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 — Supreme Commander Clark was in charge, so much so that Europeans called him Supreme Being.
Nothing has changed. In 1999 in June following NATO occupation of Kosovo, Clinton held NATO meeting in Washington, where they defined “out of area” responsibilities. It was on the basis if that expanded mission that NATO supported US in invasion of Afghanistan.
All they are doing now is expanding the definition of threat — a future in which NATO countries may not be dominant economically or technologically.
The question remains — will the attempt at blockade succeed?
Not as far as I can see. China and Russia are not Soviet Union that prevented its people from seeing how the world lives. These are both very integrated with global economy, and impossible to isolate, One cannot see South Korea or Japan ruin their economies by isolating themselves from Asia. And Australia in spite of their desire to be close to US/UK world view — is going to find out that geographically it is nothing more then an island of Asia’s coast. And being able to live in harmony with neighbors is the key to prosperity.
The only prize of war with China, would be to end friendly Chinese relations with Europe and as many Pacific nations as possible postwar, by forcing them to fight in the first place and inflicting maximum acrimony through bloodletting and destruction of cultural property.
And possibly engineer a split with Russia. Until now, Europe did not seem really on China’s war radar, NATO Europe being more Russia’s sphere.
Globalist NATO Europe is baiting WW IV, while perversely hiding behind Russia. If Russia can’t have war, but China is maneuvered into war, Eurasia has a unity problem.
Putin ended realistic NATO threats by reminding them, nuking Western Europe was an inevitable outcome of a U.S.-Russian war. Putin may not appreciate Xi taking a similar position, if only because some Chinese missiles would likely have to cross Russian airspace and Western Europe is Russia’s economic back yard.
Australia and New Zealand are likely unable to avoid going to war with China; if NATO goes in so do the Five Eyes. India might, over the Himalayan border dispute, but not if Pakistan would weigh in on the side of China.
Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, all would prefer good relations with both the West and China. They won’t appreciate being forced to chose, let alone fight for the benefit of former colonial masters.
China would rather not use force against Taiwan or Hong Kong, but ending any possible threat they pose as hosts of foreign forces would be a Chinese strategic priority the moment shooting started.
By Fifth Gen warfare means, the U.S. is already succeeding in ending peaceful outcomes to Chinese separatists as well as cordial relations with the Western Pacific nations (Aus and NZ).
All that said, European NATO is the benefactor and the U.S. and China the losers even if a U.S./NATO-China war somehow remained conventional and confined to the Pacific. Conventional weapons are devastating, even if sub-nuclear.
The losses to the U.S. and China would be phyrric while NATO Europe remained unscathed, safety guaranteed by Russia refusing to let China attack Europe directly.
That last scenario would be the perfect neocon Euro Globalist outcome. Cleaner than WWII, which sacrificed much of Europe to crush a rising Germany, renew bindings of Eurasia under an unworkable economic system, and create the U.S. as their Dumb Giant enforcer.
Stoltenberg is just a crazy warmongering dude. He and many of his ilk remind me of Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove–although the longer title of the movie says it all.
I really doubt the Chinese are scared. The US military isn’t capable of fighting anybody able to fight back.
NATO was Hijacked by Washington years ago enabling the bombing of Libya. No wonder so many members are reluctant to fund it.