NATO’s misplaced anger against China

US President Joe Biden, who has been trying to resist calls within his party over the past two weeks to back off his re-election campaign, told his audience that Ukraine would not give up and would eventually defeat Russia. In the president’s words, “Ukraine can and will stop” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal “to wipe Ukraine off the map.”

Just when you thought the alliance would focus on those countries and leave others out of the conversation, there came the inevitable blame on China.

Even as China again called for a ceasefire – a point we will return to later – NATO and Western leaders could not resist putting Beijing in the crosshairs. As Reuters noted, the West and NATO want the global audience to believe that China has consistently helped Russia, despite providing no substantial evidence for the claim.

Later, the alliance’s Washington Summit Declaration, crafted during the summit, left little doubt that China had incurred NATO’s ire: “The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the People’s Republic of China and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undermine and reshape the rules-based international order are a cause for deep concern.” Let us not forget that the West created the “rules-based international order” and will not allow any other nation to threaten or change it.

Let’s keep in mind that China has not faced any scrutiny from NATO in more than five years. Yet, in the scorching summer of 2024, Beijing is suddenly the villain. A legitimate question: Why now? The dangerous internal political situation in multiple democratic nations could be the reason.

Consider that Biden, locked in a close battle for the White House with Donald Trump, the man he defeated in 2020, is far from a guaranteed winner in November. NATO, concerned that Trump’s return to the Oval Office could mean a waning Washington commitment to the alliance, is seeking to “armourproof NATO against Trump” by putting military aid under NATO auspices, extending commitments to defend Ukraine for many years and increasing overall spending.

The UK elected Labour leader Keir Starmer to the post of prime minister last week. He has promised that his country will remain a staunch supporter of Kyiv. The new prime minister knows that the British people support Ukraine, so jumping on the bandwagon of criticizing China could boost his popularity.

But bear in mind that Labour received only 34 percent of the total vote a few days ago; the emerging Reform Party got 14 percent, a figure that ultimately weakened the Conservatives. In other words, Starmer and his party are not as popular as he might like to believe. He would be wise to avoid falling into excesses so early in his term.

And then there is Japan. Last month, a public opinion poll found that current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had the support of just 21 percent of the electorate. Although that number rose slightly in a more recent poll, the bitter reality is that Kishida and his party could very well be ousted from power later this year.

Kishida can use the strong criticism of China, something he has done for more than a year, in an attempt to build support at the polls. But his party’s ethical challenges and the unresolved question of whether wastewater being discharged from the damaged Fukushima nuclear site into the Pacific Ocean remains free of contaminants ensure that Kishida’s political standing will be far worse than Biden’s.

Indeed, China is a convenient scapegoat for Western leaders who need to score domestic political points. We should not forget that China has been denigrated by neighbors near and far primarily because it will not submit to the world order created by the West.

Note: This article is republished from CGTN through a cooperation agreement between both parties for the dissemination of journalistic content. Original link.