NATO must work more closely with like-minded countries like Australia or Japan to preserve global rules and institutions, taking into account new security threats that are shifting the global balance of power, the alliance’s secretary-general said on Monday (8 June) while kick-starting the reflection process on the military alliance’s future, Euractiv reports.
Jens Stoltenberg said the COVID-19 pandemic has “magnified existing trends and tensions when it comes to our security”, but other security threats like Russian military activities, emboldened terrorist groups, and the rise of China “fundamentally shift the global balance of power”.
In December, NATO leaders had agreed at their acrimonious 70th-anniversary summit to focus more on the challenge of China’s “growing international influence” and military might.
Asked if NATO would consider China as the new enemy, Stoltenberg said the alliance “does not see China as the new enemy” but must be ready to face up to the country’s growing might.
He pointed towards two major concerns: China’s revamped military development and how Beijing has been using propaganda and disinformation.
“They’re coming closer to us in cyberspace, we see them in the Arctic, in Africa, we see them investing in our critical infrastructure. And they’re working more and more together with Russia – all of this has a security consequence for NATO allies,” Stoltenberg said in the first the presentation of the project “NATO 2030”.
In a likely reference to China’s increased investment into 5G infrastructure in Europe, Stoltenberg warned that “we must avoid importing vulnerability,” pointing to cyber threats and other threats to values such as freedom and democracy.
