The NATO Summit opened in Madrid, Spain on June 28. Besides discussions on strengthening long-term deterrence, defense and membership bids, NATO will also address China in its new strategic concept for the first time, and expects to label it a "systemic challenge."

After NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without approval of the United Nations for the first time, it led to decades of military strikes against sovereign nations such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The defensive military alliance has turned into an expansive one. How could such a military bloc, exporting wars and chaos, label China as a "systemic challenge"? Yes, but not for the first time.

The NATO's Communique last year defined China as a "systemic challenge." Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, NATO has been constantly hyping up the so-called China threats, trying to connect the Russia-Ukraine conflict with China's Taiwan question. In Asia-Pacific, the bloc has tried to establish an "Asia-Pacific version" of NATO by taking advantage of Japan and engaging in ideological confrontation. Leaders of Japan and South Korea have also attended the summit for the first time. But what's ironic is Japan –defeated in World War II – attends the summit of a Washington-led European military alliance, a legacy of the Cold War.

If NATO values were to instigate ideological confrontation, to wage wars against sovereign nations or interfere in their internal affairs under the pretext of "human rights" or "democracy," then China's policy of peaceful development and humanity's community with a shared future – would be challenging to NATO. That said, not just China, but any entity seeking peace and development would inevitably pose "challenges" to them.

Credits: 

Scriptwriter: Yuan Xin

Designers: Wang Shiqi, Ricardo Galvão

Chief editor: Ge Jing

Managing director: Mei Yan

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