Why is NATO eager to meddle in Asia Pacific?

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Li Wei
Time
2022-07-05 17:46:47

The NATO Summit this year invited the heads of state from four Asian-Pacific countries – Japan, ROK, Australia and New Zealand – to warm up for expanding the organization to the region. Meanwhile, the US, the boss of NATO, has been tightening its alliances in the region too. These point to NATO’s intention to extend its tentacle to the Asia Pacific and become a globalized organization after it roiled Europe.

History has proven that wherever NATO extended its tentacle, there would be division and commotion. A quick review of its history shows that the organization had sided with West Europe against East Europe and the Soviet Union, then joined with East Europe against Russia, and it is now thinking of joining hands with some Asian Pacific countries against China. The process of NATO’s eastward expansion is all along a process of causing division in other countries and regions.

NATO is following the American strategy to copy the “division trick” in Asia Pacific.

Most political elites in America have always admitted that NATO is the most important strategic resource to guarantee America’s global hegemony. Without it, Washington would lose the tool to control European countries, and it would be hard to push the evolution of security order on the Eurasian continent in a way beneficial for US hegemony and interests.

From forcefully interfering in the Balkan crisis in the 1990s to “stabilizing” the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first decade of the 21st century, to the more frequent involvement in Asian Pacific affairs today, NATO has long broken the boundary that keeps it to European affairs and continuously redefined its position and purpose following America’s adjustment of its own global strategy. As Washington shifts its strategic focus to Asia Pacific and launches relevant policies intensively, NATO is also trying to expand to the region and reinforce its functional and organizational presence there by hyping the so-called “China threat”.

To coordinate with America’s global counter-terrorism efforts, NATO launched the Contact Countries program at the Riga Summit in 2006 to forge a new mechanism of security coordination with America’s Asian Pacific allies such as Japan, ROK, Australia and New Zealand. That was the beginning of regularly expanding itself to involve the Asia Pacific. Under this mechanism, NATO has coordinated more closely with the so-called “countries of common values” in Asia Pacific in intelligence, military and other areas. For the past decade and more, NATO, leveraged on the “global partners” program as a bond, has mobilized the resources of its Asian Pacific partners to deal with the Afghan issue and has sped up the security and defense coordination with Japan, ROK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Under America’s lead, NATO is applying its experience gained in the past 30-plus years – dominating European security by creating division on the continent – to its efforts to build a new security architecture in Asia Pacific. Washington is dissatisfied with the current “jigsaw puzzle” kind of security architecture in this region, whereas its numerous bilateral military alliances, trilateral security partnership (AUKUS), Quad and Five Eyes cannot fully demonstrate its traditional behavioral pattern, which is seeking hegemony and forming exclusive clique in the region.

In recent years, the US has, on the one hand, made constant attempts to integrate the existing alliances and mechanisms in the Asia Pacific. On the other hand, it is also urging NATO to merge into the region both in system and in action in order to enhance the expansive momentum.

NATO’s expansion will jeopardize regional peace and prosperity.

With its strategic gravity moving to the east, the US has obviously accelerated the deployment of the Asian Pacific security architecture lately. In addition to encouraging the connection and cooperation between NATO and Asian Pacific countries such as Japan, ROK, Australia and New Zealand, American political figures, including President Biden, have visited other countries in the region upon each other’s heels. They are trying to create an international sentiment of “China threat”, and push the host countries to align their security and defense strategy with NATO and other US allies, in a bid to forge a regional or even global security architecture with NATO at the core and then to push the US allies in Asia Pacific into containing China .

These moves of US bear a strong resemblance to its practices of creating division by aggravating the conflict between NATO members and Russia. NATO’s eastward expansion has already led to the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, a prolonged confrontation between Russia and NATO, and a massive rift in Europe. In a similar fashion, the US-led NATO’s expansion to Asia Pacific will create trouble in the region and jeopardize its peace and prosperity. This military alliance, following the strategic logic of major-country geopolitical rivalry, will definitely force Asian-Pacific countries to pick sides between China and the US. As a result, crises, conflicts and the possible security and economic disruption will likely cut off the process of regional economic integration entirely.

Waving the banner of “common values” but doing the dirty job of helping the US-led West secure hegemony, NATO is trying to create division and bloc confrontation again in the Asia Pacific. Countries in the region should stay highly alert.

Editor’s note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.

 

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