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Nato chief, challenged on the need to confront China, cites its military build-up and rights record
- ‘For me, respecting human rights are essential,’ Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary general, tells European Parliament committee
- Hearing discusses Nato’s new ‘strategic concept’, which identifies China as a ‘systemic challenge to Euro-Atlantic security’
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Priyanka Shankarin Brussels
The head of Nato got into an impromptu debate on Wednesday with a member of the European Parliament over why the security alliance needed to concern itself with China.
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Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was questioned by members of parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittee on security and defence two weeks after Nato identified China as a “systemic challenge to Euro-Atlantic security”.
Irish MEP Mick Wallace pressed Stoltenberg on why Europe could not live in peace with China and respect the fact that the two trading giants hold different values.
“I respect that China is different from the EU and even my country, Norway. But for me, respecting human rights are essential,” Stoltenberg responded, adding that China’s assertive behaviour could not be ignored.
China’s actions towards the rest of the world are defensive in nature, not offensive, Wallace contended.
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