BUCHAREST: NATO allies are concerned about China’s rapid and ambiguous military build-up and its cooperation with Russia, and they discussed concrete ways to deal with Beijing’s challenges on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken said. .
“Our alliance members remain concerned about the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) repressive policies, its use of disinformation, its rapid, ambiguous military buildup, including its cooperation with Russia,” Blanken said. said after a news conference at a one-day meeting of foreign ministers of the Western Defense Alliance.
“But we are committed to maintaining constructive dialogue with China wherever possible and we welcome opportunities to work together on common challenges.”
Blanken said that while NATO remains focused on maintaining unified support for Ukraine, members also want to increase the alliance’s flexibility by considering new challenges, including those posed by China.
“What we talked about today, again, is to make sure that we are working to adopt concrete ways to address the challenge,” Blanken said without elaborating. The United States and its allies recognize that beyond the Cold War divide lies the struggle to shape the world.
“There is a recognition that there is, in many ways, what Europeans call a systemic rivalry between China and many of our countries,” Blanken said. “But there’s also a recognition that wherever possible, we have to find ways to collaborate on really big issues.”
