Such a weak reply from the Chinese delegate. Theres so much they could have said on NATO indeterminate bombings and imperialism. Not sure why he didn't say it. That's a poor response.NATO-China Tension Over Ukraine Flares at Conference in Iceland
- Alliance official calls out refusal to condemn Russia invasion
- Chinese diplomat says ‘root cause’ must be taken into account
A senior NATO official confronted a Chinese diplomat over China’s failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, injecting tension over the war into an international conference about the Arctic.
The unusually frank exchange between Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the alliance’s Military Committee, and He Rulong, China’s ambassador to Iceland, followed a speech by Bauer on NATO’s role in the region at the annual Arctic Circle Assembly.
Bauer, a Dutch Navy officer, said China “doesn’t share our values and undermines the rules-based international order.” The Chinese envoy spoke up from the audience to challenge Bauer, saying “Admiral, with due respect, your speech and remarks is filled with arrogance.”
That prompted pushback by the NATO official.
“I have a question for you, because you underline the principle of sovereignty and the importance of the internationally recognized borders in the world,” Bauer said, drawing applause. “I am correct, isn’t that true? Yeah. So why is it possible then that China still is not condemning Russia’s attack in Ukraine?”
China’s view of the “Ukraine crisis” includes a historic perspective and the world needs to “understand the root cause,” He said, prompting scattered laughter when he called China “the peacemaker in the world.”
The Arctic Circle Assembly is an annual international gathering on the Arctic, including governments, indigenous organizations and academics.
It’s separate from the Arctic Council, an eight-country intergovernmental group that includes the US and current chair Russia. Its meetings have been suspended since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gao Feng, China’s special representative for Arctic affairs, told the meeting that his country wouldn’t support excluding Russia, which is chairing the group until 2023, to punish it for the war in Ukraine and hand the chairmanship to Norway.
“There is no procedure to get anybody out of the Council,” Gao said. “So I really doubt whether the presidency could be passed on -- to anybody-- or Norway could take over.”
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Such a weak reply from the Chinese delegate. Theres so much they could have said on NATO indeterminate bombings and imperialism. Not sure why he didn't say it. That's a poor response.
China can condemn Russia after NATO gives us the same support against our separatists as they're giving the Ukrainians for theirs.
NATO cares a lot about the borders are sovereignty of nations right?
This Bauer character should probably avoid wordplay and just stick to what his former colleagues such as Adolf Heusinger and Hans Spiedel were good at - invading, killing and threatening innocents. That is all the nato axis will amount to.
Let them bask in western chauvinism, the real players know what's up and they ain't biting in the western bait.
Edit:China should next time send a more wolf warrior like representative. They could learn a thing or two from putin anti imperialism speech.
Tbf it's a delegate of the Iceland embassy. Basically the Chinese version of Soviets that get assigned to working in a Siberian sardine packing plant. I dont think a character like that comes super prepared with officially approved responses to deal with aggressive militarist saber rattling.
If NATO really wanna say something, say it officially to the Chinese government through diplomatic channels.
The trolling and rude retorts against the west being delegated to Russia is good. Makes China look like the adult in the room even though they're probably still engaged in copious amounts of trolling just like everyone else, they're just better at outsourcing it.
While I kinda agree that I wish Ambassador He Rulong was more assertive, it is also true that A) He was in the audience, and B) This was in Iceland, basically surrounded by NATO minions.
He was in the middle of these enemies in the audience. Rob was making a speech from the pulpit. There's just no point in it.
He was in the middle of these enemies in the audience. Rob was making a speech from the pulpit. There's just no point in it.
The EU’s pressure on Serbia is unacceptable, and the country's citizens should accept that the bloc doesn't want them, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin told the Novosti news site on Saturday.
He added that Belgrade should instead turn its attention to “free countries that accept us without blackmail,” such as Russia and China.
“The question is not whether we want to join the EU, but whether the EU wants Serbia,” Vulin told Novosti. “Judging by the insane blackmail they are exposing us to…they don't want us. The sooner we accept that they don't want us and that we don't belong there, the better off we will be.”
A traditional ally of Russia, Serbia has come under intense pressure from the West to back the sanctions regime against Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine.
The European Parliament has considered freezing accession talks with Belgrade over the latter’s refusal to back its eight rounds of economic penalties, US state media reported last month. Germany and France have offered to “accelerate” Serbia’s path to EU membership if it recognizes the independence of the province of Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated last week.
For Vulin and Vucic, the answer to these offers is a clear “no.”
“How much would our friends respect us if they saw us neglecting our interests in the face of enemy force?” Vulin asked. “Who would fight for us if we chose not to fight for ourselves?
“Relations with Russia, China and other free countries that accept us without blackmail and conditions are the future of Serbia,” he continued. “I believe that friendship with Russia is of the greatest importance and that without it we risk the physical disappearance of Serbia.”
According to a poll taken in March, some 61% of Serbs oppose any cooperation with the US-led NATO alliance, largely due to the bloc’s support for Kosovo’s independence and its 1999 bombing campaign that brought about the end of Yugoslavia.
Furthermore, while Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009, accession looks to be off the table for now. The EU’s latest sanctions package targeting Russian oil exports looks set to cost Belgrade hundreds of millions of euros, Vulin said last week, describing it as the “first EU sanctions package against Serbia.”
Hungary has responded to the sanctions by announcing a new pipeline to help Serbia tap into the supply of Russian crude oil.
broadsword
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I don't know about his hand on the young girl's shoulder thing, but he was clearly too hard on on his hands-on on Hillary.
I heard there are some tuvans in Xinjiang.