U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks during a NATO public forum as part of the 2024 NATO Summit on July 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. AFP/GETTY IMAGES
THE WATCH STAFF
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has violated the rules-based international order by evading sanctions and aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, NATO leaders agreed in a statement during the alliance’s U.S. summit in July 2024. Days earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly condemned the PRC’s conduct, saying that it represented a significant security threat to Europe. Blinken referenced a joint statement from NATO and Japan warning of spillover into Asia from European conflicts. Blinken’s comments resonated in Asia, which already had a strong contingent at the NATO summit. Along with Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea attended this year’s summit in Washington, D.C. “[The] big thing that I think we’ve seen over the last three and a half years: a much greater alignment, a much greater convergence between us and key partners in Europe, in Asia, and beyond on how to tackle some of these challenges, including some of the challenges posed by China, and of course, the challenges posed by Russia,” Blinken said at a July 1, 2024, Brookings Institution event, according to a transcript of his comments on the State Department’s website.
The PRC’s growing support of Russia was noted by North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command commander Gen. Gregory M. Guillot in his March 2024 remarks to Congress. Guillot noted that a joint Russian-PRC naval patrol had conducted military exercises off the Alaskan coast in 2022 and 2023.
“The PRC remains the Department’s pacing challenge as identified in the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS),” Guillot said. “Beijing has embarked on a wide-ranging military modernization program that is advancing the PRC’s homeland-threatening capabilities at an urgent pace.”
The NATO declaration on July 10, 2024, reaffirmed the alliance’s common objectives while echoing Guillot’s concerns. “The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies continue to challenge our interests, security and values. The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order, are a cause for profound concern,” read the communique.
The same document called for the PRC to halt its support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The PRC has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its so-called “no-limits” partnership and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base. This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security. We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort. This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defense sector. The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” the declaration stated.
The PRC has also sent naval ships into the U.S. exclusive economic zone offshore of Alaska in July 2024. The ships were spotted by a Coast Guard cutter on patrol.
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