(UnitedVoice.com) – The US has repeatedly voiced concerns that China is helping Russia in its war on Ukraine. There are also worries that the Chinese government could use the conflict as a roadmap of sorts if it decides to invade Taiwan to force reunification. While the US has spoken out about Beijing, NATO has never done so — until now.
On July 10, NATO leaders issued a joint statement from their meeting in Washington, DC. They accused China of being a “decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.” The international alliance demanded the country stop shipping “weapons components” to Russia to help rebuild its military.
The statement was shocking because NATO has never publicly reprimanded China in the past. The leaders also made it clear that Beijing’s support of Russian President Vladimir Putin will hurt its country. The declaration said that the Chinese government couldn’t “enable the largest war in Europe” in modern history without it “impacting its interests and reputation.” The leaders also expressed anger toward China for its “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”
NATO did not go into what those costs might be. However, experts have theorized that world leaders might issue sanctions against the Chinese, banning them from parts of the global financial market. However, in the past, leaders have not gotten on board with sanctions because of the role China plays in the world economy. That’s another reason why the joint statement was so surprising. It indicated the days of passivism were over.
President Joe Biden said China needs to “understand that if they are supplying Russia” and also “working with North Korea” to help Moscow, then they won’t “benefit economically” from their actions.
The Chinese were not thrilled by the NATO statement, to put it mildly. BBC reported China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called the allegations made by the world leaders “groundless” and warned that NATO was stirring up problems.
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