Beijing accuses: NATO of exaggerating ‘China threat theory’

BEIJING: Beijing on Tuesday accused NATO of exaggerating the threat from China and “creating confrontation”, after a vow from the Western allies to work together to counter the “systemic challenges” posed by its policies.

NATO leaders made the commitment on Monday, as US President Biden renewed Washington’s transatlantic ties. In a broad statement of intent, the leaders said China’s increasingly assertive actions in building a nuclear arsenal and space and cyber warfare capabilities threatened the international order.

In response, a statement from the Chinese mission to the EU called for NATO to “view China’s development rationally, stop exaggerating various forms of ‘China threat theory’ and not to use China’s legitimate interests and legal rights as excuses for manipulating group politics (while) artificially creating confrontations”. It added that NATO’s accusations were a “slander of China’s peaceful development, a misjudgement of the international situation and its own role, and it is the continuation of a Cold War mentality and the group’s political psychology at work”.