[ad_1]
South China morning post
US-EU Announce Dialogue on China; NATO pledges to work with Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations to counter Beijing
The United States and Europe pledged deeper cooperation to counter China on Wednesday, with an agreement to initiate a formal dialogue between the United States and the European Union on the issue and a commitment by NATO to close ranks with “like-minded democracies” in the Asia-Pacific region. . “We decided to continue meetings at the level of senior officials and experts on issues such as reciprocity, economic issues, resilience, human rights, security multilateralism and areas of constructive engagement with China, such as climate change,” said the vice president of the European Commission, Josep. Borrell, the EU’s top foreign affairs official. “We share an assessment of China’s role as a partner, as a competitor and as … a rival,” Borrell said. “We also agree, and this is perhaps most important, in supporting the broadest possible participation of the United States in the European Union Defense Initiative and improving our dialogue on this issue.” Questions about the hottest topics and trends? of all the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new curated content platform with explanations, FAQs, analytics, and infographics from our award-winning team. US Secretary of State Blinken, who is in Brussels most of this week, said the dialogue between the US and the EU was necessary to address “the challenges that China presents to the rules-based order that we both subscribe to. ”. Hours earlier, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a conversation with Blinken that he plans to build partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. as a bulwark against China. while the military alliance of 30 European and North American nations develops its strategic plan, known as NATO 2030. “Strengthening partnerships with like-minded democracies is also a way to protect the rules-based international order. And of course it’s about the aftermath of China’s rise and many of NATO’s problems 2030. “Blinken’s meetings with Borrell and Stoltenberg came as the new US administration held a series of meetings. with NATO, the European Union, South Korea, and the “Quad” countries of India, Japan, and Australia for the past two weeks, seeking to shore up Washington’s alliances that were tested under the previous Trump administration. Alliances are also wrapping up the first high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials since US President Joe Biden took office in January. Those talks primarily highlighted the gaps between the two sides on many fronts, with a commitment to form a group work on climate change as the only area of cooperation. Blinken’s engagement with EU and NATO leaders is “a perfect response so natural to the rise of China and its recent international behavior in recent years, in the vacuum of building and maintaining alliances by the Trump Administration, “said Andrew Mertha, director of the China studies program at the School of Johns Hopkins Advanced International Studies in Washington. EU-China deal is on the rocks as sanctions shake support in the European Parliament “The speed with which the Biden administration has been able to act underscores that this is something our allies have sought, and been denied, in the past. last four years, “he said. . “China may well see this as something akin to containment, but it is, in fact, the rapid deployment of a coherent policy that fills in the absolute absence of one under Trump.” The closest coordination between Washington and Brussels this week also comes as China and European nations summoned their ambassadors after the EU sanctioned Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. “The fact that Beijing has sanctioned top European parliamentarians, politicians and researchers has changed the conversation about China in Europe in recent days,” said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The space to discuss a joint transatlantic response to China’s growing diplomatic and economic assertiveness has grown significantly,” he said. “Key points on the agenda will be cooperation on green and emerging technologies, resilient supply chains, practices that distort the China market and human rights.” Blinken said he agreed with Stoltenberg’s strategic vision for NATO, adding that new concerns facing the military alliance include climate change, cybersecurity and “the rise of autocratic states and the challenges they pose.” “Our mission now is to make sure that we are fully onboarding NATO right now, to meet today’s challenges … and we look forward to working on that with the secretary general,” Blinken said. However, even if NATO allies are well aware of any China-related challenges, a formal expansion into Asia is still unlikely, said Erwan Lagadec, who heads the EU and NATO affairs programs at the School. Elliott Department of International Affairs at George Washington University. “From the perspective of Asian democracies, most of them have existing security agreements with the United States,” he said. Ultimately, when he signs Article 5, it is not to get Iceland’s support. It is to obtain the security guarantee of the United States. “He added that many current NATO countries would not necessarily have the naval capacity to deploy in the Pacific either, should a military fire occur there.” Stoltenberg has to be very precise when says we have to look at China, it is not saying that no NATO mission will be deployed with a NATO flag in the South China Sea, “Lagadec said.” Even if there was political will, 28 of the 30 allies of the There is nothing NATO can do about it. “Not only is the US Navy already distributed throughout the area, Washington is working to strengthen ties there. Earlier this month, Biden attended the first virtual meeting of the Quad, an informal grouping that is not a military alliance, but has been described by some as a “mini NATO.” Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with their counterparts in Tokyo and Seoul. last week. Stoltenberg’s call to strengthen ties with Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, echoed a statement issued by the Quad, which called for the region to be “anchored in democratic values” and for freedom of navigation and flyby were key targets. Biden will join a session of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday. His agenda for the meeting includes a discussion of “shared foreign policy interests, including China and Russia,” according to a White House statement. Additional reporting by Jacob Fromer and Finbarr Bermingham More from the South China Morning Post: NATO chief urges US and EU to patch alliance to stop ‘countries bullying China around the world’ . China sanctions NATO for discussing multilateral stance on China and Russia in early Biden-era talks China will likely be a hot topic when senior US officials visit Japan, South Korea, observers say Japan and South Korea take different approaches on relations with China; NATO is committed to working with Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations to counter Beijing first appeared on the South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
