Insatiably imperialistic NATO now has sights on Asia-Pacific: China Daily editorial

Given the changes that have taken place in the global geopolitical landscape since its current Strategic Concept was adopted in 2010, the latest edition of the Strategic Concept that is set to be endorsed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders at their summit in Madrid later this month will no doubt have evolved in light of the power-hungry alliance's perceptions of these.

NATO views its new Strategic Concept as not only reaffirming its values and purpose, but also a driver of the transatlantic alliance's strategic adaptation and a guide for its future political and military development.

One of the important decisions the NATO leaders adopted at the 2021 Brussels Summit was to invite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to lead the process of developing a new Strategic Concept adapted to the "new reality of increased global competition".

The Brussels Summit Communique issued on June 14, 2021, already identified "systematic challenges" that China's "growing influence and international policies" present "to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to Alliance security".

Considering China's increasingly active presence on the international stage and growing influence, it is perfectly normal for the country to be mentioned in serious discussions of global affairs. Not to mention those of the security-minded NATO.

But since then, NATO officials such as Stoltenberg have constantly played up the "serious challenges" China poses to the global order and NATO itself.

Although the exceedingly hawkish Stoltenberg has admitted there is no danger of a military attack by China on any NATO country, he has repeatedly claimed that China's growing military and economic might means that the balance of power is changing, something he clearly feels is intolerable.

If the revised Strategic Concept does identify China as a so-called security challenge along with Russia, it will mean a historical shift in the military alliance's perception of and approach to China, which will no doubt be of lasting, strategic significance, especially if one takes into account the Strategic Concept's role as NATO's policy guidance, which is generally expected to be in place for a decade or so.

For all the blame the US-led Western countries have heaped on Russia for launching its special military operation in Ukraine, it is NATO's relentless expansion onto Russia's doorstep that has been the root cause of the conflict. NATO countries' recent security engagement with Asia-Pacific nations, as well as their growing military presence in the region, have cemented the impression that NATO's desire for expansion is insatiable and it has its sights set on creating a role for itself in the region. This merits the vigilance of countries in the Asia-Pacific region; they should be on high alert to its machinations.

As a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "NATO has already messed up Europe, and it must not be allowed to do the same to Asia and the rest of the world".

As such, the revised Strategic Concept will only highlight that NATO is the legacy of a bygone era and out of tune with trends of peace and development that need to be embraced and nurtured.