Opinion | US and Nato are in no shape to treat China like a threat or competitor amid crumbling credibility

Today’s China is a totally different entity from the Soviet Union, and a new cold war with Beijing is not in the West’s interests, given China’s global economic clout and increasing military power

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Published: 1:30am, 8 Jul 2022Updated: 2:32am, 8 Jul 2022

Have Nato leaders decided to ignite a new kind of cold war with China? In its final declaration at the recent summit in Madrid, the transatlantic alliance used very calculated wording to define the threat from China.

“We are confronted by cyber, space and hybrid and other asymmetric threats, and by the malicious use of emerging and disruptive technologies. We face systemic competition from those, including the People’s Republic of China, who challenge our interests, security, and values and seek to undermine the rules-based international order,” is how the sixth point in the declaration reads.

Three inferences can be drawn from this paragraph. First, Nato appears to have officially declared China an adversary and considers itself capable of tackling China along with an overtly belligerent Russia.

Second, Nato feels that China is now an undisputed power in the domain of information and space technologies and has the capability to outpace the West in the coming years.

Third, the whole spectrum of competition in global power structure is not determined by conventional military prowess any more. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence are the main differential advantage that will shape the future line-up of global politics.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to ostensibly counter the Soviet Union – and later Russia – and this is the first time China has been officially mentioned as a competitor and threat to Nato’s interests, security and values.