Editor's note: The video column does what the name says – take note of ideas that may make people uncomfortable. By taking notes and breaking down various opinions, we try to provide an alternative line of thinking that will hopefully generate deeper discussions. This is part two of the series "NATO with Asian characteristics" focusing on NATO's expansion in Asia. 

We've established that NATO is coming to Asia. The question is, how would Asia welcome it?

China won't welcome it. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in mid-May that "China is opposed to some forces using the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to justify NATO's further expansion into the Asia-Pacific region" and that "the attempt to build an Asia-Pacific version of NATO will only do serious harm to regional security."

As of now, the most "receptive" countries are South Korea and Japan. As we talked about in the last video, South Korea is the first Asian country to join NATO’s cyber defense center. Japan will attend the NATO summit in June. "We should keep in mind that NATO is led by the United States, that is now pressuring South Korea and Japan to basically and effectively militarily merge," said Benjamin Norton, Founder and Editor of Multipolarista.

I'm emphasizing it again: We should keep in mind that NATO is led by the United States. A security pact, under Washington's umbrella, is what's happening here.

And it's not limited to these two countries. During this year's U.S.-ASEAN Summit, the U.S. made commitments to deploy a Coast Guard vessel to the region to counter "China's illegal fishing." And U.S. President Joe Biden nominated the chief of staff on his National Security Council to become the next ambassador to ASEAN.

If America's goal is to encroach China in Asia, the only way to do so would be through its security ties. China is the largest trading partner for South Korea and Japan, more than $700 billion in combined trade volume. It has a more than $800 billion trade volume with ASEAN as well. Biden promised a $150 million assistant package for ASEAN during the summit. China pledged $1.5 billion to them last November. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership stands in full-force now. America's trade pact for the region is either dead in the water or in the infant stage. China has been successful when it comes to fostering economic ties with the region.

Sourabh Gupta, resident senior fellow with the Institute for China-America Studies, said in an interview that "Fundamentally for them (Southeast Asian countries), the most important priority is development. These are all developing countries, which still have many years, some still decades, to get to being an advanced country. And so while there are territorial issues which need to be dealt with in the South China Sea, the fundamental overriding interest and priority is development."

The same can be said for the developed countries. Both South Korea and Japan had negative GDP growth rates in 2020. South Korea had 4.0 percent growth in 2021 and Japan had 1.7 percent. China had 2.3 and 8.1 percent in these two years respectively.

It's the classic dichotomy between the security with the U.S. and business with China. Asian countries don't like to choose between these two. It's an impossible choice for them. Having NATO shoved down their throat is not going to be a popular move for Asian countries.

Part one: NATO with Asian characteristics: NATO is coming

Scriptwriter: Huang Jiyuan

Videographer: Zhou Xin

Video editor: Hao Xinxin

Cover image: Xing Cheng

Managing editor: Huang Jiyuan

Senior producer: Bi Jianlu

Chief Editor: Li Shou'en

Supervisor: Mei Yan

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