In the text of the final declaration of the NATO summit in London, China is mentioned for the first time as a possible threat to the Alliance.
"We recognize this in its growing influence and international politics, which for us means a challenge, but also a chance to act as allies," the document says.
The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, however, does not want to see China as a new adversary or as an enemy in general. "It is not that NATO is now moving towards the China Sea, but it must be borne in mind that China is getting closer," Stoltenberg said in London, referring to China's activities in the Arctic, Africa and Europe, which have nothing to do with classical military armament.
This sentence of the declaration "does not mean that China is already an enemy," said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
According to him, China is a strategic challenge. "We have to be prepared in case things don't go the way we want them to."
But what exactly is the Western military alliance worried about? First of all because of the following eight points.
ARMAMENT: China spends a lot of money on armaments and its army - modernizing its weapons systems and navy. NATO is committed to maintaining superiority when it comes to strategic and intercontinental nuclear weapons. The NATO navy - this refers primarily to the US Pacific Fleet - should be equal to China's. Because, after the United States, China has the second largest budget for the defense of the country with 160 billion dollars. The USA is, admittedly, far ahead with 630 billion.
COOPERATION: China is buying weapons in style from Russia, which NATO considers an adversary. In return, Chinese companies sell the Russians urgently needed machinery and infrastructure for the gas and oil industry, which Russia has been unable to buy in the West since 2014, when Western countries imposed sanctions on it due to the annexation of Crimea. NATO nervously observes the cooperation between these two powerful countries.
COMMUNICATION: The US advocates that the Chinese concern Huawei be excluded from the construction of telecommunications infrastructure. They fear espionage and possible sabotage. However, European NATO member states do not want to exclude Huawei from building a 5G network, but demand that it adhere to general security standards. NATO's task will be to specifically assess the potential risks of China's telecommunications infrastructure and find a way to communicate in the event of cyberattacks. The USA, for example, is demanding a firmer performance here, which is why Chancellor Angela Merkel resents it. Her argument is that economic ties with China are important both for Germany and for other European countries.
INFRASTRUCTURE: In its new Silk Road Initiative, China has gathered 16 countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, provides cheap loans and builds infrastructure in countries that are members of NATO and the European Union. Most of the investments were made in five Balkan countries that are not members of NATO. In 2016 and 2017, investments amounted to slightly more than nine billion euros. Johannes Hahn, who until recently was the European commissioner for enlargement, stated at the beginning of the year that the West overestimates the influence of Russia and underestimates the influence of China.
AFRICA: China's activities in resource-rich African countries are reflected in the provision of cheap loans and the construction of infrastructure such as roads, railways and power plants, which it actually does with its own companies. These investments usually lead the country to over-indebtedness and huge dependence on Beijing.
ARCTIC: NATO fears that Chinese influence will grow in this way not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world. In 2018, the Chinese leadership announced the so-called "White Paper on Arctic Policy". Although it does not border the Arctic area, China is demonstrating its rights to part of the area. Namely, with huge investments, Chinese companies should participate in the development and exploitation of the Arctic.
PERSIAN GULF: China could abandon its decade-long more or less neutral role in the Near and Middle East. Its influence is growing again with huge investments, above all in Iran, which should be the hub of the New Silk Road. The greater the rivalry between Iran and the US, and the weaker the obligations of the failed agreement on Iran's atomic program, the more China fills those gaps, NATO analysts in Brussels are convinced.
SOUTH CHINA SEA: China claims that it claims islands in the South China Sea, which according to the US belong to other Southeast Asian countries, with which the US is allied. China's military provocations in that region could at some point actually lead to conflict. NATO itself would not be involved in the conflict, but the largest member of the Alliance - the USA - would certainly be involved. Would it then be necessary for other member states to stand by the US?
No unified policy
In some problematic areas, which also concern economic interests, the 29 NATO members are not working against China, but against their own allies within the NATO alliance.
Because it is not only China that suffers because of American punitive tariffs, but also Germany, France and other countries. This could pit China and the Europeans against NATO's leading power, the United States,
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has publicly expressed his doubt that China and Russia should be seen as classic enemies at all.
He wants to concentrate much more on the fight against terrorism.
That is why Tomas Valasek from the think tank "Carnegie Europe" believes that it will take some time until NATO develops a unified policy towards China. He emphasizes that in the long run, China can be "a much bigger problem than Russia, but it's just developing more slowly."
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