Rebuking Beijing, NATO Calls Communist China a ‘Decisive Enabler’ of Russia’s War in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — In NATO’s most serious rebuke against Beijing, the Western alliance on Wednesday called Communist China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and expressed concerns over Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.China responded on Thursday by accusing NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and telling the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.“NATO hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesman Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.China has broken with the United States and its European allies over the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion. Its trade with Russia has grown since the invasion, at least partially offsetting the impact of Western sanctions.NATO’s sternly worded final communiqué, approved by the 32 alliance members at their summit in Washington, makes clear that China is becoming a focus of the military alliance. The European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China.Beijing insists that it does not provide military aid to Russia but has maintained strong trade ties with its northern neighbor throughout the conflict. It also accuses NATO of overreaching and inciting confrontation in the Indo-Pacific region.“China urges NATO,” Mr. Lin added on Thursday, to “stop interfering in China’s internal politics and smearing China’s image and not create chaos in the Asia-Pacific after creating turmoil in Europe.”In the communiqué, NATO member countries said China has become a war enabler through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.“This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security. We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” read the communiqué, which referred to China by the abbreviation of its official name, the People’s Republic of China.“The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” the document says.NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said China provides equipment, microelectronics and tools that are “enabling Russia to build the missiles, to build the bombs, to build the aircraft, to build the weapons they use to attack Ukraine.”He said it was the first time all NATO allies have stated this so clearly in an agreed document.The Chinese embassy at Washington on Wednesday said China is neither a creator of nor a party to the Ukraine crisis. “China does not provide weapons to the parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, which is widely applauded by the international community,” said the embassy spokesman, Liu Pengyu.He said China’s normal trade with Russia is “done aboveboard” and “beyond reproach.”

Rebuking Beijing, NATO Calls Communist China a ‘Decisive Enabler’ of Russia’s War in Ukraine

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