By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) – Denouncing the West’s push to forge military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, China has told the UN Security Council that NATO’s expansion has “sowed the seed of conflict.”
“NATO’s five eastward expansions after the Cold War have not only failed to make Europe securer, but also sowed the seed of conflict,” Ambassador Zhang Jun told a UNSC briefing on Ukraine on Tuesday.
He said China “firmly” opposes “certain elements clamoring for NATO’s involvement in Asia-Pacific, or an Asia-Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances.”
“The long-outdated Cold War script must never be reenacted in the Asia- Pacific. The kind of turmoil and conflict affecting parts of the world must not be allowed to happen in the Asia-Pacific,” he emphasized.
China has been allied with Russia in opposing the expansion of the world’s largest military alliance of 30 nations.
NATO is set to welcome two more nations to its fold as Sweden and Finland’s membership seems certain to be approved at the Madrid summit starting on Wednesday.
Beijing has also been unrelenting in its opposition to the US’ moves to shore up bilateral and multilateral alliances in the wider Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s expanding economic and military influence.
Washington is leading a security group called the Quad along with Japan, Australia and India. It has also signed the AUKUS pact with Australia and the UK, under which Canberra will get nuclear-powered submarines.
On the Ukraine crisis, Zhang said it has “once again sounded alarm for the world.”
“Security is indivisible. A blind faith in the position of strength, the expansion of military alliance, and the pursuit of one’s own security at the expense of the insecurity of other countries will inevitably lead to security dilemmas,” he said.
“It is necessary for NATO to reconsider its own positioning and its responsibilities, completely abandon the Cold-War mentality that is based on bloc confrontation, and strive to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework in line with the principle of indivisible security.”
The ambassador said Beijing is paying “close attention to NATO strategic adjustment, and is deeply concerned about the policy implications of the so-called ‘Strategic Concept’.”
“Certain NATO leaders lately painted other countries as a threat. But the fact is it’s NATO itself that has made troubles in different parts of the world,” he said.
“We urge NATO to learn its lessons, and not to use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to stoke worldwide bloc confrontation or a new Cold War, and not to look for imaginary enemies in the Asia-Pacific or artificially create contradictions and divisions.”