NATO chief parroting Washington's absurdities: China Daily editorial

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has emerged as a prominent and vocal China hawk, has once again displayed his colors as a puppet of Washington by hyping up a "China threat" in support of the United States' designs on Greenland.

Despite it being clear that the US annexing the Danish territory would be nothing more than imperialist expansion that would spell the end of transatlantic military alliance, Rutte has added his voice of support for the US land grab by insisting that the largest "threat" to Greenland comes from places other than the US.

Speaking on Monday during a visit to Croatia, he tried to persuade the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to support the US move by hyping up the need for NATO allies to agree on the importance of the Arctic and Arctic security, claiming there is "a risk that the Russians and the Chinese will be more active" in the region.

US President Donald Trump has cited the activities of Russian and Chinese vessels near Greenland to justify his plan to take over the Arctic island, by force if necessary. Yet there is no evidence to support the claims of "Chinese economic plunder" or a "military presence" in the region — unless the US produces a vial of washing powder again.

NATO intelligence reports point to the absurdity of such claims. There have been no signs of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines around Greenland in recent years, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings.

In light of this, the US has resorted to persistently mischaracterizing China's scientific research and shipping activities in the Arctic as having military intentions.

Debunking these attempts in her response to a question in a regular news briefing on Monday, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, pointed out that all countries have the right to conduct activities in the Arctic and that "China's activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting peace, stability and sustainable development in the region and are in accordance with international law". She urged the US to stop pursuing its own selfish interests by "using other countries as a pretext".

Beyond the territories of the eight Arctic states, the Arctic includes high seas and international seabed areas where non-Arctic states have legitimate rights, including scientific research, navigation and resource exploration. These rights should be fully respected.

The US' portrayal of a "China threat" in the Arctic is simply a smokescreen to conceal its pursuit of Arctic dominance. As a pretext for its own expansionist designs on Greenland, the US framed China-Russia cooperation in the Arctic as a "threat" in its 2024 Arctic strategy and has expanded its military footprint in the Danish territory to create the impression that it is responding to Chinese and Russian military activities in the Arctic.

China's Arctic policy is clear: to understand, protect, develop and participate in the governance of the Arctic, guided by the principles of respect, cooperation, win-win outcomes and sustainability. This policy reflects China's deep understanding of Arctic affairs and its sense of responsibility as a major country.

The US' Arctic policy is also clear: seize and control. An approach that demonstrates its imperious irresponsibility and narrow-mindedness as it ignores the rights of other stakeholders and is detrimental to efforts to protect the ecology of the region and the collective utilization of its resources.

Meanwhile, Rutte's remarks only demonstrate his ideological bias against China and his subservience to the US. He has repeatedly hyped up a "China threat" as an excuse to urge NATO allies to expand the alliance eastward into the Asia-Pacific, which, given what has transpired with its eastward expansion in Europe, is a recipe for disaster.

His remarks about Greenland and "threats" from China and Russia have nothing to do with the facts and dismiss the sovereignty of a NATO member in favor of a public endorsement of the US' trumped-up claim for Greenland. This accords with the public perception of him as a man in the US' pocket.