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South China morning post
‘We’re in this together,’ Antony Blinken tells NATO after wave of sanctions against China
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used his first official European pledge on Tuesday to discuss America’s renewed embrace of the transatlantic alliance, a day after Western nations engaged in a fiery and coordinated exchange of sanctions. with China. The Biden administration’s top diplomat is in Brussels to meet with the foreign ministers of NATO countries, ahead of upcoming talks with European Union leaders on Wednesday. Addressing his NATO counterparts, his message was clear, and in stark contrast to the previous US administration.Do you have questions about the biggest issues and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new curated content platform with explanations, FAQs, analytics, and infographics from our award-winning team. “Whether it’s tackling some of the new challenges like the weather or the cyber realm, the rise of autocratic states and the challenges they pose, we have a deep interest in doing it together, doing it collectively, relying on collective security, and that’s what NATO is all about, “Blinken said, adding that NATO should be” focused on some of the challenges that China poses to the rules-based international order. ” While issues closer to European borders, such as Russian aggression, will dominate EU talks, China is unlikely to be far from the concerns. “Given recent developments between the EU and China, I would say that China will be a main point of discussion between the United States and other allies,” said Meia Nouwens, senior researcher on Chinese defense policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Speaking after Tuesday’s meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said foreign ministers had discussed “setting minimum standards among allies for critical infrastructure, such as telecommunications and power supplies.” The ministers also sought to build “new partnerships” with Asian-Pacific nations such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to “address the consequences of China’s rise,” Stoltenberg said. Blinken is in Europe after a painful meeting with Beijing’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Alaska last week. In an unconventional view, foreign policy chiefs traded quips in front of the media. Instead of clearing things up, however, the ties have grown even more strained in the days since. On Monday, Britain, Canada, the EU and the United States joined forces to impose sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. This was seen as a clear sign that the new Biden administration plans to use its alliances to counter an increasingly assertive China. A stronger alliance between the United States and Europe is needed to stop China, says the Washington group In a statement accompanying the United States sanctions, Blinken said the United States “is committed to playing a strong leadership role in the global efforts to combat serious human rights abuses, through the Global Magnitsky sanctions program and similar efforts. ”The Financial Times reported that Blinken and his European Union counterpart Josep Borrell will relaunch a strategic dialogue on China on Wednesday, a few months after the bloc and Beijing agreed to a comprehensive investment treaty. “Recent developments between the EU and China will only boost cooperation to address the challenges posed by China higher on the transatlantic agenda and reaffirm the case for unity within the alliance on how individual allies approach China, ”Nouwens said. China reacted quickly to sanctions s, banning 10 European individuals and four associated entities and individuals from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macao. Among those sanctioned was the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the EU, which includes the ambassadors of the 27 member states in Brussels, their families and their staff. After a “long and intense” meeting with EU foreign ministers, Borrell said, China’s response was unacceptable. “There will be no change in the EU’s determination to uphold human rights and respond to serious violations and abuses, regardless of where they are committed,” he said. David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, said that Beijing’s embargoes on five members of parliament, as well as its subcommittee on human rights, “will have consequences.” US, EU, UK and Canada Launch Sanctions Barrage; Beijing responds to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, tweeting that the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands would be summoned to explain the sanctions to Dutch MEP Sjoerd Sjoerdsma. “This will be addressed more in a European context,” Rutte said. Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes added her voice to the chorus. “Belgium strongly rejects the announcement by the Chinese authorities to sanction EU entities and especially EU MPs, including a Belgian MP, in response to measures taken in defense of human rights, a fundamental principle of the EU policies. We will follow this up with our EU counterparts, ”Wilmes said. In Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused the EU of hypocrisy. “The EU cannot talk about cooperation on the one hand and impose sanctions to damage China’s rights and benefits on the other. This is unreasonable and would lead nowhere, ”he said. While Blinken was in Brussels, his Moscow counterpart Sergei Lavrov was in Beijing, gathering support for an alliance that would help the pair resist Western sanctions. “The risks of sanctions must be reduced by strengthening the self-sufficiency of the science and technology industry, [and] promote settlement through local and international currencies that can replace the US dollar to gradually move away from the Western-controlled international payment system, “Lavrov said. NATO has focused more on the perceived threat from China in recent years. Last week, Stoltenberg told the European Parliament that if the West intended to deal with a “more aggressive” and “threatening” China, it needed to quickly repair an alliance that had decayed under the supervision of former US President Donald Trump. “If you are concerned about the rise of China, China’s military and economic strength, that makes it even more important that we are together, Europe and North America in NATO,” Stoltenberg said. Pierre Morcos, a visiting fellow at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said China presents “a novel and complex challenge for NATO.” “Unlike Russia, it does not pose a direct military threat to NATO. But Chinese activities and policies are affecting Euro-Atlantic security in areas such as cybersecurity, telecommunications or disinformation, ”he said. “NATO can serve as a forum for allies to share intelligence and develop a shared assessment of the challenges posed by China, including in its cooperation with Russia,” Morcos said. The NATO chief urges the US and the EU to patch up the alliance to stop China “from harassing countries around the world.” But Chinese analysts downplayed the prospects for the NATO meeting. Lu Xiang, senior fellow for US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Blinken’s comments may have been of some comfort to NATO, but “I doubt they can form a complete joint foreign policy from them.” “Most of the NATO members have no real interests in conflict with China. They can express or take some action under pressure from the US, but [are] it’s unlikely it will go too far, ”Lu said. Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, said that NATO’s main target remained Russia. “Although they are trying to add the China issues, I think overall it won’t do much,” Wu said. “In China, NATO could make gesture statements and symbolic movements, rather than have a substantial impact.” Additional report by Liu Zhen More from the South China Morning Post: China and Russia agree to work together against ‘illegitimate’ sanctions Alaska Summit: China and the US are widely separated on hot topics, but agree to establish a change group climate change when talks end Xinjiang sanctions fail to convince China’s hawks to support the EU investment deal U.S. efforts to rally allies against China are neither helpful nor effective, says Beijing on the eve of the talks Alaska China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
