2024-07-14 18:19:26
The North Atlantic Alliance’s attempts to strengthen its position in Asia in order to contain China could undermine stability and security in the region, according to observers from Foreign Affairs magazine, Day.Az reports, citing TASS.
As the article states, NATO “does not fit” in this region, which has a tradition of non-alignment with military alliances. For this reason, there is strong skepticism about the possible strengthening of the alliance’s presence, the article notes. In this regard, NATO’s continuation of the line on strengthening its position in Asia in order to contain China may lead to countries starting to see the alliance as a threat to their security, Foreign Affairs writes.
The publication notes that NATO’s attempts to strengthen its position in Asia confirm Beijing’s assessment that the Washington-led alliance is only fueling international confrontation. As a result, leaders of the region’s countries have expressed concerns that the alliance’s presence will cause Asia to split into warring blocs, while rapprochement with NATO could force them to “choose a side” in the global standoff with China. In support of this thesis, the magazine cites the words of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who earlier called on Asian countries to reject the “Cold War mentality” imposed by NATO, as well as statements by Singapore’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Kishore Mahbubani, who said that strengthening the alliance in Asia threatens to “export a terrifying militaristic culture” to its countries.
On July 4, the Nikkei Asia newspaper reported that NATO intends to strengthen ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific region in response to allegedly growing security threats from Russia and China. Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that NATO plans to strengthen cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries.
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