China says NATO’s foray into Asia undermines regional peace

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Raising alarm bells regarding NATO’s alleged expansion in Asia, China on Thursday said it will “undermine regional peace and stability.”

“Asia is an anchor for peace and stability and a promising land for cooperation and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition,” Mao Ning, spokeswoman of China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing.

Mao said NATO’s “continued eastward foray into the Asia-Pacific and interference in regional affairs will inevitably undermine regional peace and stability and stoke camp confrontation.”

She was responding to reports that NATO was working with Japan to open its first Asian office in Tokyo.

“This calls for high vigilance among regional countries,” said Mao.

In its outreach to Asia Pacific, NATO will open its first Asian office in Japan, Nikkei Asia claimed in a report on Wednesday.

The one-person liaison office in Tokyo “will allow the military alliance to conduct periodic consultations with Japan and key partners in the region, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as China emerges as a new challenge, alongside its traditional focus on Russia.”

Meanwhile, Beijing accused the US of turning Taiwan in to a “powder keg.”

Referring to a visit by 25 US defense contractors to the island nation this week, China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Twitter: “The US is turning Taiwan into a powder keg. What the US government truly cares about is not the people in Taiwan, but lining the pockets of US arms dealers.”

She said the American defense firms were discussing “building more drones and weapons for the island.”

China considers Taiwan as its “breakaway province,” while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.