Countering the security threat from the rise of China will be an important part of Nato’s future rationale, the alliance’s chief has said, marking a significant rethink of the western alliance’s objectives that reflects the US’s geostrategic pivot to Asia.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said China was already having an impact on European security through its cyber capabilities, technologies and long-range missiles.

The FT reported over the weekend that China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August, demonstrating an advanced long-range weapons capability that surprised US intelligence and underscored the rapid military progress China has made on next-generation weapons.

The military alliance has spent decades focused on countering Russia and, since 2001, terrorism. The focus on China comes amid a shift in US orientation away from Europe to a hegemonic conflict with Beijing.

Stoltenberg, who is set to step down next year after almost eight years at the helm of Nato, told the FT:

“China is coming closer to us . . . We see them in the Arctic. We see them in cyber space. And of course they have more and more high-range weapons that can reach all Nato allied countries.”

Source: Financial Times