NATO, Asia-Pacific partners agree to bolster cooperation
Cyber defense, new technologies and countering disinformation will become focus.LONDON -- NATO members agreed on Thursday to increase "practical and political cooperation" with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, in response to China's failure to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine.
"We agreed to step up cooperation with our partners in the Asia-Pacific, because the crisis has global ramifications," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference, concluding two days of meetings of foreign ministers from the military alliance. The four Asia-Pacific countries were invited to attend the NATO gathering in Brussels.
China's unwillingness to condemn Russia, and Beijing "join[ing] Moscow in questioning the right of nations to choose their own path" represent "a serious challenge to us all," Stoltenberg said. "It makes it even more important that we stand together to protect our values," he said.
Areas of cooperation with the Asia-Pacific partners will include cyber defense, new technologies and countering disinformation.
"We will also work more closely together in other areas such as maritime security, climate change and resilience because global challenges demand global solutions," Stoltenberg said.
Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea had first participated in a NATO foreign ministers meeting during December 2020.
Ahead of this week's gathering, Stoltenberg spoke of the need to work more with the alliance's Asia-Pacific partners because of the rise in China's defense investment and capabilities.
Top diplomats from Georgia, Finland, Sweden and the European Union also attended the meetings, whose main topic of discussion was the ongoing war in Ukraine. NATO foreign ministers agreed to strengthen and sustain their support to Ukraine as the Russian invasion enters its sixth week. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba joined the meeting as well.
Tension between NATO allies and China has been growing over Beijing's response to the war. A NATO summit of member leaders is planned for June in Madrid.
"We are building stronger ties between NATO and our Asia-Pacific partners, starting with Japan," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said before meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. "We also had [South Korea]; we had Australia and New Zealand here today. And this is something that will carry through to the summit in Madrid, building greater coherence, greater collaboration, greater cooperation between Europe and Asia, between NATO and Asia-Pacific partners."
When U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders of the 30 NATO members held a summit last month, they issued a statement March 24 calling on all states, specifically naming China, "to abstain from supporting Russia's war effort in any way." The leaders also urged China to "cease amplifying the Kremlin's false narratives, in particular on the war and on NATO.
Western allies remain concerned that China could support Russia financially or militarily in the war, whose geopolitical implications have spilled over globally including into the Indo-Pacific.
On Tuesday, the AUKUS trilateral security partnership of the U.S., U.K. and Australia reaffirmed its commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and announced further cooperation in developing advanced military capabilities.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian criticized AUKUS as having outdated Cold War and bloc thinking, aiming to "build a NATO replica in the Asia-Pacific to serve the U.S. hegemony and self-interests."
NATO is in the process of updating its security assessment and strategic vision for the next decade, with the alliance due to agree on its new "Strategic Concept" at a summit in Madrid during June.
Prior to the foreign ministers' gathering, Stoltenberg said the new Strategic Concept needs to address "the security consequences of a much stronger China" and areas such as the challenges posed by Russia and China to the international order and democratic values.
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