British and Australian leaders told the NATO summit that the West needs to assert its value globally. Otherwise, we would be at risk of seeing China and Russia continue to test the rule-based international order.
This comes as NATO Issued a declaration He said China would be included in the new strategic concept after Asian countries challenged the alliance’s “interests, security and values” and called for “weakening the rule-based international order.”
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Britain’s Foreign Minister Liz Truss emphasized the crucial nature of Ukraine’s conflict over the continuation of world peace, saying that what happened in Europe can be easily reproduced in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Australia is very aware that what is happening there affects our own routes. Authoritarian states attack sovereign states and try to exercise their will through brutal military forces. If possible, it will affect the entire region, “he said. NATO summit public forum..
“It must also be seen in that context, which is why Australia understands that we need to reassert our values in return with our friends here at NATO.”
The Australian Prime Minister believed that China was essentially linked to the conflict in Ukraine, and said Russia was using its unlimited partnership with China to step up its invasion program.
“Because Russian troops were mobilized at the border during the Olympics, you had an unlimited signed partnership between Russia and China, which is one of the processes leading up to Russia’s invasion. It was a department, and I think it shows how China and Russia were interrelated, “Albanige said.
“China aims to be the most powerful country in the world. That’s what we see here playing.
“Like Russia is trying to rebuild a sort of Russian or Soviet empire, the Chinese administration has built an alliance and through financial support to undermine what was historically a Western alliance. Looking for friends, whether in the region or in the Pacific. “
China may make strategic miscalculations
Reflecting Australia’s Prime Minister’s comments, Truss said the Ukrainian conflict was essentially linked to a threat to world peace, and that the West needed to defeat Russia to send a message to Beijing. ..
“My very strong message is that we have to defeat Russia first and negotiate later. The Australian Prime Minister is completely in need to think very carefully about the message to send to President Xi. I agree. I see increasing cooperation between Russia and China, and I see China watching closely and they are expanding their military power, where they are expanding their global influence. We know, “Tras said.
“As China expands its influence through economic coercion and builds a capable army, there is a real risk that they will elicit wrong ideas and lead to catastrophic miscalculations such as invasion of Taiwan. I think, and that’s exactly what we saw as Putin’s strategic miscalculation in the case of Ukraine. “
Truss also spoke freely on the topic of helping Taiwan protect itself, saying that “it is very important for the free world to work together to enable Taiwan to protect itself.” ..
She said the UK is working to ensure that Taiwan has a meaningful participation in international organizations and has a strong economic relationship with Taiwan.
“This isn’t just hard security,” Truss said. It’s also about economic security. The lessons learned from the Ukraine crisis are the feeling that Russia felt able to invade Ukraine because it knew that Europe’s growing dependence on oil and gas was very difficult for Europe to respond to. I think it contributed to. “
The Foreign Minister urged allies to remember to be strategically independent of China and to make sure that allies around the world have alternatives to China.
“We also need to learn the lesson that China is not strategically dependent on China. In fact, we need to make sure that we have strong options. And in the free world, the Prime Minister Not only are there strong options that are also allies such as the Pacific Islands that she was talking about. Southeast Asian allies, Africa and the Caribbean allies also have alternatives to China’s economic investment, “she said. rice field.
China’s economic coercion and diplomatic bullying
Comments from Albaniji and Truss come from Beijing’s economic coercion of Australia through trade sanctions on wheat, wine, barley, coal, seafood, honey, wood and meat products. He also provided a list of 14 points of dissatisfaction stating that diplomatic relations need to be addressed before they can be normalized.
Australia pushed Beijing’s demands back, and the Prime Minister said, “Even with the change of government that our values do not change, the trade-off between our values for our compassion and short-term economic benefits is. Will not be done. Also. “
China’s new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Chien, bans Chinese state-run telecommunications company Huawei from the country’s 5G network because of security concerns and a request to investigate the origin of the coronavirus. He said he was blamed for China’s dissatisfaction with the matter.
But Australia isn’t the only one that is angry with the Chinese government. Truss said in a forum that Beijing is also beginning to put pressure on non-Asia-Pacific countries like Britain and international organizations like NATO.
“this is of course very anxiety that China teeth now make statement about NATO; this is make statement about the sovereignty of Falkland The islands, “she said.
follow
Victoria Kelly-Clark is an Australian-based reporter focusing on the national political and geopolitical environment of the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Central Asia.