Nato leaders slam China for Russia ties and Taiwan threats in sternest rebuke to date

Nato issued its strongest rebuke of China to date on Tuesday, lashing out at its “coercive policies” and “deepening strategic partnership” with Russia.

A joint communique agreed by the military alliance’s 31 member states addressed Beijing at length, accusing it of opaquely building up its military power, “amplifying Russia’s false narrative” on the war in Ukraine, and using its economic might to “create strategic dependencies and enhance its influence”.

Published midway through a leaders’ meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, dominated by discussions about Ukraine’s future chances of Nato membership, the statement’s sections on China ran to 322 words, compared with 304 last year across two statements and 225 in 2021.

“China is increasingly challenging the rules-based international order, refusing to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, threatening Taiwan and carrying out substantial military build-up,” said Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference on Tuesday, the first of the bloc’s two-day gathering.