U.S. agenda with NATO member states: A new "strategic concept"

U.S. agenda with NATO member states: A new "strategic concept"

The American paper derives that conclusion from the fact that high-ranking US officials will insist on adopting a much tougher policy towards China.

The FT also writes that for the past few weeks, Washington representatives have been lobbying other European members of the NATO alliance to tighten their rhetoric towards China, as well as concrete actions to restrain the Chinese authorities. Opposing China was previously set by U.S. President Joe Biden as the main goal of his foreign policy, but America's focus shifted to the war in Ukraine by force of circumstances.

The fact that the US now insists on placing a confrontation with China on the agenda of the NATO alliance comes at an extremely sensitive moment for the Chinese authorities, as mass protests continue against the lockdown policy, but also the Communist Party, as well as President Xi. The question arises as to what China's reaction could be in the event of a drastic tightening of NATO's policy.

As Gojko Drljača, the author of numerous articles in Jutarnji List, writes, before the invasion of Ukraine, flirting with accepting Ukraine as a member of the NATO alliance seemed like a logical step, but today it is more likely that most of the members would give up on that idea, if that move were to stop Russian attack.

Therefore, the question arises, is increasing pressure on China, which the United States insists on, a step towards returning some kind of Cold War relations to global international politics, when political tensions are already extreme?

According to the FT, senior US officials stressed before the meeting in Bucharest that NATO agreed on a new "strategic concept" this summer in order to "address the systemic challenges" posed by China.

America offers its European allies in NATO to agree on "strengthening our resilience against the challenges posed by the People's Republic of China" at a meeting in Bucharest. Coordinating NATO members against China, the FT claims, is high on the list of priorities for the United States.

US Ambassador to NATO, Julien Smith, argued that NATO must begin to respond to China's challenges in concrete ways. At the meeting in Bucharest, ministers should discuss a new report on China, so that country should be clearly identified for the first time as a challenge in matters of "interests, security and values".

That report allegedly deals with issues of Chinese military development, efforts to influence NATO members and third countries, and deals with Sino-Russian relations.

Along with the aspirations of the US, the EU is assessing to what extent the union should tighten economic relations with China. Most EU members, especially Germany and France, do not see themselves on the same page with China as the United States.