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China rejects NATO accusations of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine
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China has accused NATO of smearing the country and demanded the transatlantic alliance stay out of Asia, while its military has demonstrated growing influence with record numbers of air operations near Taiwan and naval exercises near the Philippines.
Beijing on Thursday lashed out at NATO’s accusation that China has become a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war on Ukraine. NATO’s 32 leaders on Wednesday demanded that China “cease all material and political support for Russia’s war effort,” in their strongest condemnation of Beijing yet.
In a joint statement at their annual summit in Washington, NATO said that Beijing’s “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base… increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing had lodged representations with NATO over the allegations, which he called “biased, slanderous and provocative” and dismissed the alliance as “a relic of the Cold War.”
Lin added that China’s “constructive role” over the war in Ukraine has been “widely recognized by the international community.” In an earlier statement, China’s mission to the EU said Beijing had never supplied lethal weapons to either side, adding that its “normal trade flows” with Russia should not be subject to disruption or coercion.
“Without any evidence, NATO continues to spread falsehoods fabricated by the US, openly smearing China, sowing discord between China and Europe, and undermining China-Europe cooperation,” Lin said.
China’s mission to the EU hit back at NATO’s accusations, warning the alliance to stay out of Asia, which it said was “not a battleground for geopolitical competition.”
NATO “continues to emphasize the interconnection between the security of Europe and the security of the Asia-Pacific… We urge [it] to remain in its role as a regional defense organization in the North Atlantic,” the statement said.
“NATO must not become a destabilizer of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific or a tool used by certain great powers to maintain hegemony.”
The heated rhetoric comes as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand join NATO summits, a practice that began after Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022.
In response to the People’s Liberation Army’s growing regional power, U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan and the Philippines, intensified joint planningexercises and arms mobilizations. NATO members such as Britain, France, Canada and Germany have also increased military operations and security cooperation in the region.
Beijing has hit back, with senior Chinese military officials denouncing US efforts to strengthen ties with its allies in the region as a conspiracy to create an “Asian NATO”.
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As Beijing railed against NATO, Taiwan recorded the largest Chinese incursion into its air defense identification zone, a buffer zone set by Taipei to allow early warning against hostile jets.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 66 Chinese military aircraft operated around the island in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Wednesday, 56 of which entered the ADIZ.
The activity is part of air and naval exercises at the peak of the PLA’s summer exercise season. On Tuesday, Taiwan’s defense minister said a PLA aircraft carrier passed through the Balintang Channel between two of the Philippines’ northernmost islands on its way to the Pacific Ocean.
The PLA drills have been ongoing since early July and have included air and naval maneuvers in the East China Sea north of Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea east of Luzon.
Meanwhile, the US is hosting Rimpac, the world’s largest naval exercise, which is taking place near Hawaii and includes nearly 30 countries, but not China.
Additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing