NATO to Publish Report That Calls for More Focus on China

The EU is also looking to form an anti-China coalition with the US to counter Beijing on trade and technology

NATO is expected to publish a report on Tuesday that says Russia will remain its adversary throughout this decade but calls on the alliance to put more focus on China. The report, titled “NATO 2030,” contains 138 proposals to reform NATO.

“China is no longer the benign trading partner that the West had hoped for. It is the rising power of our century and NATO must adapt,” a NATO diplomat that saw the report told Reuters. The diplomat said part of the strategy would be to maintain a technological edge over China.

According to Reuters, the report suggests that NATO should work closer with non-NATO countries like Australia. The plan also calls for NATO to focus on deterring China in space.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has promoted the idea that the alliance should work to counter China. Stoltenberg discussed Beijing at a news conference on Monday. The NATO chief said China’s posed “important challenges to our security.”

“China is investing massively in new weapons. It is coming closer to us, from the Arctic to Africa. China does not share our values … and tries to intimidate other countries,” Stoltenberg said.

The European Union is also looking to counter Beijing in the realms of trade and technology by forming an anti-China coalition with the US. Financial Times reported on Sunday that the EU has a drafted proposal for a new transatlantic agenda that will be put forward for the approval of national leaders at a meeting on December 11th and 12th.

A draft of the EU plan reads: “As open democratic societies and market economies, the EU and the US agree on the strategic challenge presented by China’s growing international assertiveness, even if we do not always agree on the best way to address this.”

The Trump administration has been looking to strengthen alliances in Asia to counter China. The US, India, Japan, and Australia make up the informal alliance known as the Quad. The four countries recently held military drills together for the first time in over a decade, a clear message to Beijing. Some US officials hope the Quad can be the foundation for a NATO-style security alliance in Asia.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.