This week, NATO members and key partners met in Madrid, Spain, for the 2022 NATO Summit. At the Summit, Heads of State and NATO member countries discuss critical issues threatening the Alliance and developed solutions to strengthen it. While Russia still poses the most immediate threat to NATO stability, China was also a vital component of the agenda. As the Summit concludes, NATO has deemed China a central challenge to security now and for years to come.
The most significant deliverable from the NATO Summit is a newly adopted Strategic Concept, which has adapted NATO ambitions to the current security environment. NATO last published a Strategic Concept in 2010, and twelve years later, the security dynamic has significantly changed. For the first time, NATO members included China in the Strategic Concept as posing a “systemic challenge” to Euro-Atlantic security.1NATO 2022 Strategic Concept,NATO, June 29, 2022. Pg. 5https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2022/6/pdf/220629-factsheet-strategic-concept-en.pdf The Strategic Concept outlines broad concerns over China’s military, economic, and political policies. Primarily, NATO members and allies are concerned with China’s “ambitious and coercive” policies that aim to increase its global power but lack transparency in strategy.
From a military perspective, the Allies are concerned about multiple components of China’s military strategy. Specifically, the Concept includes the PRC’s “malicious hybrid and cyber operations” and “military buildup.” However, the concern holding significant weight is the “deepening strategic relationship” between Moscow and Beijing. Given the international disruption caused by Russia this year, China’s greater military cooperation with them for the last few years put a target on China’s back. Therefore, NATO is now observing Chinese foreign policy through a Russian lens. On February 4, 2022, China and Russia issued a joint statement where both powers explicitly opposed the “further enlargement of NATO,” directly objecting accession of new countries into the Alliance.2Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development,President of Russia, February 4, 2022.https://en.kremlin.ru/supplement/5770 By the end of the month, President Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine. Before the release of the Concept, US NSC spokesman John Kirby pointed out that, like the US, our Allies have become growingly concerned with the “burgeoning relationship” between Russia and China.3On the Record Press Call by NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby and Assistant Secretary for Defense Celeste Wallander,White House, June 29, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/06/29/on-the-record-press-call-by-nsc-coordinator-for-strategic-communications-john-kirby-and-assistant-secretary-for-defense-celeste-wallander/ Since China connected itself to Russia right before the attack, NATO could not separate China from Russia when examining security risks to the Euro-Atlantic region.
Furthermore, the Allies addressed concerns about China’s economic behaviors that could threaten the region long-term. Last week, National Security Coordinator, John Kirby, explained that including China in the Strategic Concept reflects the US and other allies’ concerns over the effects of Chinese economic practices. Certain practices included are forced labor, intellectual theft, and coercive behavior, which could negatively affect European businesses. NATO also emphasized growing concerns over China’s economic leverage in critical infrastructures, strategic materials, and technological and industrial sectors. China has control over crucial mineral deposits, which has left the world, including NATO members, susceptible to dependence on Chinese sourcing for now. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in his opening remarks, referenced how NATO was able to recognize the risk of China’s 5G networks last year and reiterated that China’s growing control of critical infrastructure and technologies should apply the same concern.4Opening Speech by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the High-Level Dialogue on Climate and Security, NATO Public Forum,NATO, June 28, 2022.https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_197168.htm?selectedLocale=en Nervous that China could leverage control over critical sectors to gain global influence, NATO has included this as one of the challenges China poses to the region.
Lastly, another way NATO prioritized China was by inviting Indo-Pacific partners to the Summit. For the first time, leaders from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand participated in the NATO Summit. Reiterating this is not an attempt to create a Pacific version of NATO; inviting Indo-Pacific partners is a way to link similar threats inflicting both regions—China.5Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials Previewing the G7 and NATO Summit, White House Press Briefing, June 22, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/06/22/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-previewing-the-g7-and-nato-summit/ Additionally, NATO wants to uphold a fundamental characteristic that despite geographic location, the United States and its allies will protect principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Lastly, an agenda point is for NATO to reinforce partnerships and maintain an open door.
Not only was the attendance of Indo-Pacific partners a first, but also the Indo-Pacific regions were also written into the Strategic Concept for the first time. The Allies committed to “strengthen dialogue and cooperation” and “tackle cross-regional challenges and shared security interests” with its Pacific partners.6NATO 2022 Strategic Concept,NATO, June 29, 2022. Pg. 11https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2022/6/pdf/290622-strategic-concept.pdf During the Summit, President Biden initiated a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon to discuss further cooperation between U.S.-ROK-Japan defense efforts. Biden noted that the presence of all four members highlights the global resolve to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine and maintain a rules-based international order.7Remarks by President Biden, President Yoon Suk Yeol of the ROK, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan Trilateral Meeting,White House, June 29, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/06/29/remarks-by-president-biden-president-yoon-suk-yeol-of-the-republic-of-korea-and-prime-minister-kishida-fumio-of-japan-before-trilateral-meeting/ As NATO shifts its focus beyond the Atlantic border, this could mean greater international pressure on Indo-Pacific concerns like a nuclear North Korea or a potential invasion of Taiwan. Again, NATO’s prioritization of Indo-Pacific nations signals China’s growing importance as a geopolitical actor.
Ultimately, the world may have thought that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would have taken the global spotlight off China. However, it has done the opposite. After the invasion began, NATO allies and partners looked at how or if China would intervene in the conflict. Additionally, the invasion of Ukraine has led to growing parallels between the future of China and Taiwan. If anything, increasing tension in Europe has pivoted incredible attention to China. Over the last decade, China has become a global competitor between the United States and other European countries. Despite being predominately an Indo-Pacific player, China is gradually extending its reach into the West and is a growing regional challenge in the Euro-Atlantic space. Therefore, the Summit allowed NATO to link the Atlantic and Pacific regions and define China as a strategic challenge to the Alliance.
Notes
- 1
NATO 2022 Strategic Concept,NATO, June 29, 2022. Pg. 5https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2022/6/pdf/220629-factsheet-strategic-concept-en.pdf
- 2
Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development,President of Russia, February 4, 2022.https://en.kremlin.ru/supplement/5770
- 3
On the Record Press Call by NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby and Assistant Secretary for Defense Celeste Wallander,White House, June 29, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/06/29/on-the-record-press-call-by-nsc-coordinator-for-strategic-communications-john-kirby-and-assistant-secretary-for-defense-celeste-wallander/
- 4
Opening Speech by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the High-Level Dialogue on Climate and Security, NATO Public Forum,NATO, June 28, 2022.https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_197168.htm?selectedLocale=en
- 5
Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials Previewing the G7 and NATO Summit, White House Press Briefing, June 22, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/06/22/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-previewing-the-g7-and-nato-summit/
- 6
NATO 2022 Strategic Concept,NATO, June 29, 2022. Pg. 11https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2022/6/pdf/290622-strategic-concept.pdf
- 7
Remarks by President Biden, President Yoon Suk Yeol of the ROK, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan Trilateral Meeting,White House, June 29, 2022.https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/06/29/remarks-by-president-biden-president-yoon-suk-yeol-of-the-republic-of-korea-and-prime-minister-kishida-fumio-of-japan-before-trilateral-meeting/
