Seeing the development of Sino-Russian relations as having "no upper limit," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appears visibly discontented. He claimed that China is "very active in evading sanctions and supplying dual-use goods," and emphasized that he has "never held any naive views about China's role in the Russia-Ukraine war." Then, Stoltenberg reiterated his rhetoric of bloc confrontation, stating that since 2020, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have grown increasingly close. Meanwhile, his senior officials and himself have repeatedly visited Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. The "Indo-Pacific Forum" is a partner of NATO, and cooperation is intensifying in areas such as innovation, defense industry, and intelligence sharing. His implication is not to forget that this is precisely NATO’s forte—the "wolf-pack tactic." Stoltenberg also cited an example: "Europe, together with the UK, Turkey, and Norway, has over 500 million people, while its opponent, Russia, has around 120 to 140 million people." He argued that if Europe unites and avoids excessive reliance on U.S. allies, it could still ensure its own defense. Clearly, Stoltenberg displays an extreme obsession with Cold War-style bloc confrontation thinking. He believes Europe can overwhelm Russia four-to-one in population, and that NATO’s engagement with the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand in the Indo-Pacific region can contain China. But this is merely the traditional Western maritime power strategy aimed at encircling China and Russia’s continental power—except that Stoltenberg seems to have forgotten the vast majority of Global South nations. Even just the ongoing war in Iran is already driving NATO toward division.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865768639835146/
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