The Chinese government is lashing out at NATO as tensions between the strategic alliance and China's ally, Russia, grow over the war in Ukraine.
NATO, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, largely focuses on matters concerning Europe and North America. However, the alliance has been increasingly setting its sights on Asia in recent years due to perceived regional threats from China and Beijing's cozy relationship with Moscow.
Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, denounced NATO as "a walking war machine that causes chaos wherever it goes" during a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, according to Chinese government's state-run Xinhua News Agency.
"Wu urged NATO to stop fabricating lies and taking dangerous actions that cause chaos in the Asia-Pacific region, treat China and the development of the Chinese armed forces objectively and rationally, and do something beneficial to world peace," the Xinhua report states.
Newsweek reached out for comment to NATO via online press contact form on Thursday evening.
A number of international observers have expressed concerns that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could serve as a template for China to take military control over disputed territories, including Taiwan.
Beijing has recently made moves to assert its claim of sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait and most of the South China Sea, in opposition to international maritime law and the views of nearly every other country in the world.
Last week, Nikkei reported that NATO officials were in talks with Japan to establish a "dedicated communication line for quickly sharing sensitive security information" that could counter "disinformation plots by countries such as China and Russia."
A NATO plan to open a liaison office in Japan was reportedly killed last year after French President Emmanuel Macron expressed concerns that the move would provoke China.
An opinion article published in July by Global Times, a tabloid run by the Chinese Communist Party, argued that NATO is "a terrible monster that should be avoided at all costs" and threatened the alliance with "serious consequences" for meddling in Asia.
"To put it more directly, NATO must promptly withdraw the black hand it has extended toward the Asia-Pacific region, and it should not even think about squeezing half of its body in the future," the article reads.
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's former supreme allied commander Europe, warned last month that China's territorial disputes could spark a new world war, with the caveat that there was likely a 10-year "grace period" to prepare for the possibility.
Meanwhile, relations between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have strengthened since the Ukraine war began, although China officially remains neutral on the war.
At the same time, NATO has been expanding and building up a military presence along its borders with Russia. Tensions in the region have been on a razor's edge, especially since a war with any individual NATO member would obligate the entire alliance to join the conflict.
British Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps wrote in an opinion article published by Politico on Wednesday that allowing Putin's invasion of Ukraine to end in a Moscow victory would "signal to China that everything is up for grabs."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
