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2 June 2024

Does NATO Have a Role in Asia?

David Sacks

China used to be largely absent from NATO’s list of major geopolitical concerns, but in recent years the alliance has signaled its growing worry with China’s strategic direction and assertiveness. In 2019, NATO mentioned China in an official statement for the first time, noting in its London Declaration that “China’s growing influence and international policies present both opportunities and challenges” for the alliance. References to China have since become sharper, with the 2021 Brussels Summit Communiqué stating that China’s “ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to Alliance security.”

China’s support for Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 further increased concerns within NATO. At the Madrid Summit later that year, NATO adopted a new Strategic Concept [PDF], its first in over a decade, which said that China’s “ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values,” and called out the “deepening strategic partnership” between China and Russia and their collective attempts to “undercut the rules-based international order.” In addition, NATO invited leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea (informally known as the Asia-Pacific Four, or AP4) to join the summit, marking the first time all four leaders did so.

The Vilnius Summit Communiqué of 2023 further detailed the alliance’s major concerns with China, including its cyber and disinformation operations, attempts to control important industrial sectors and supply chains, and its growing alignment with Russia. Again, AP4 leaders attended the summit. NATO also announced a new partnership program with Japan.

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