politics

China warns 'NATO-like' alliances could lead to conflict in Asia-Pacific

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By Martin ABBUGAO

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So, to rephrase, China can arm itself to the teeth, threaten its neighbours, militarise the sea, claim territory that was never theirs and manipulate poor countries but when others want to protect themselves from this in alliances it is they who are causing trouble. Look at yourself, China! You are the thing that is common to all your problems. But you seem to have no self-awareness or powers of introspection.

19 ( +27 / -8 )

And who is going to start that?

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Chinese are 100% correct, this must be the motivation behind opening a NATO office in Japan.

-16 ( +5 / -21 )

"Today's Asia-Pacific needs open and inclusive cooperation, not buddying up into small cliques,"

Agree. But it's China's behavior that is causing the latter.

13 ( +18 / -5 )

US admiral Chuck Fina asked who the Chinese allies are then……crickets

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Surely China knows that such "warnings" have the opposite effect, right?

18 ( +20 / -2 )

International rules need to be respected or there is only chaos.

Maybe I missed it but the article seems to have no mention of that.

I agree international rules must be respected.

It starts with the US ratifying the unclos.

-12 ( +3 / -15 )

It takes the QUAD, AUKUS and NATO to counter China. Would that be sufficient?

2 ( +8 / -6 )

If you threaten to stop my expansion of territory, then I will attempt to expand my territory.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

The country of China doth protest too much, methinks.

10 ( +15 / -5 )

@badmoonrising

If World War Three breaks out nobody wins.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

I totally agree with MOONRAKER (the first comment here). Listen to yourself, China! What!?! Stand down, and there will be no need for such alliances to be built.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Similar to how US diplomatic cables revealed that the US fomented unrest which resulted in the Arab Spring, the same stirring up of conflict is occurring here.

Predictably it has resulted in a booming business related to the sales of US weapons.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

I think China-like countries could lead to conflict in Asia, but what can you do?

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

quercetumToday 08:06 am JST

It takes the QUAD, AUKUS and NATO to counter China. Would that be sufficient?

I dunno, but clearly smaller isn't the answer. You got your first upvote!

3 ( +8 / -5 )

I agree international rules must be respected.

It starts with the US ratifying the unclos.

China doesn't have to wait to be respectable, either.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Li said these alliances would "plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts".

These "alliances" are forming only because of China's continuing behavior that is threatening to plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts.

7 ( +13 / -6 )

In 2018, the United States imposed personal sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, the guy in the picture. Today, the U.S. government has not lifted the sanctions.

If American officials have open communication and meet with Li Shangfu, it would be against the laws of the United States.

It takes the QUAD, AUKUS and NATO to counter China. That is how strong China has become.

-12 ( +3 / -15 )

If everywhere you go you're having problems with people, then most likely the problem is you not them.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

If American officials have open communication and meet with Li Shangfu, it would be against the laws of the United States.

Definitely not outside the US. No excuses for China not to do the responsible thing.

It takes the QUAD, AUKUS and NATO to counter China. That is how strong China has become.

You'll notice there is one country in common with all of those and it is the only country that is really needed but we will take what we can get. Nobody said China wasn't a big country and a country with the benefit of having stolen a lot of stuff.

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

Please note that less than 24 hours ago there was an article on this website in which the Chinese were asking for talks that could lead to increased peace and stability. Now the CCP is making threats. Take note: the CCP cannot be trusted.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Quercetum - of course smaller nations need to form alliances to help fend off larger, more aggressive ones. I also gave you an upvote for recognizing this fact.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

It sounds just like Russia!

Full speed ahead!

7 ( +9 / -2 )

You think everyone wants to live like the Americans and the west your wrong !

Don’t care how you want to live in your own country, but if you start trying to expand your borders and take over international waters, then we have a problem.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

How telling is it that China and Russia are worried about NATO? If you're not up to no good out there, you don't need to fear. NATO has not started any conflicts but Russia invaded Ukraine and started a bloody war while China is always threatening Taiwan with invasion. The need for a NATO-like alliance should be clear to all the countries near these two in order to deter their aggression.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

What's wrong with the US ? Remove the US from wherever there's been conflict around the world in the past 8 decades and there's have been no conflict or at best very limited ones. This sums up who the perennial war monger is.

So far ships and trade routes in the Oceans have been smooth even to and from Japan, suddenly the US is " ..ensuring a free and open Indo-pacific..." Conducting ".. freedom of Navigation.." " Pivot to Asia.." and such nonsense. The sea Lanes have always been open !!

It's the US that's militarizing the Indo-pacific and the SCS, with military bases all around China and vigorously pursues military alliances with China's neighbors while exaggerating the dangers by China.

It the US sticks to the Monroe doctrine then it's "backyard" should stop in Hawaii or Guam at the furthest. Stop causing problems in the SCS ( South China Sea !! that name !!!

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

Stop causing problems in the SCS

It doesn’t matter. The U.S. keeps talking the SCS but has not stopped China from continuing building. So China wisely prepares to defend its territory from future sanctions, embargoes, and blockades. The U.S. has no plans to stop that, only forming alliances.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Don’t care how you want to live in your own country, but if you start trying to expand your borders and take over international waters, then we have a problem.

Ah okay then it's okay to illegally invade no WMD Iraq, kill thousands and take over their oil, right?

So laughably biased.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

When given a choice countries do not want Communist China to infect their countries. Communist China's Winnie the Pooh leader is pure evil

7 ( +9 / -2 )

NATO is for peace not for attack, whereas China..

7 ( +11 / -4 )

China warns 'NATO-like' alliances could lead to conflict in Asia-Pacific

It is much more likely to keep those in the "NATO like" alliance safe and out of wars.

Lets face the fact that NATO is a military guilty of using weapons of mass destruction

NATO has never used weapons of mass destruction in its entire existence. That is a fact!

and has so far caused more deaths and injuries and destruction than it has saved.

Another clear and blatant lie. NATO keeps people safe, just not those who would actively attack it. Another fact!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

What's wrong with the US ? Remove the US from wherever there's been conflict around the world in the past 8 decades and there's have been no conflict or at best very limited ones. This sums up who the perennial war monger is.

That's only because we have been there to oppose the dictatorship cabal in all of its forms. Sorry, but no surrender this century, either.

So far ships and trade routes in the Oceans have been smooth even to and from Japan, suddenly the US is " ..ensuring a free and open Indo-pacific..." Conducting ".. freedom of Navigation.." " Pivot to Asia.." and such nonsense. The sea Lanes have always been open !!

Then there should be no reason for the ridiculous Chinese coast guard presence all over the South China Sea. The US should be able to sail right up to the illegal Chinese outposts.

It's the US that's militarizing the Indo-pacific and the SCS, with military bases all around China and vigorously pursues military alliances with China's neighbors while exaggerating the dangers by China.

If China wasn't such a lousy neighbor, there would be no one for the US to ally with.

It the US sticks to the Monroe doctrine then it's "backyard" should stop in Hawaii or Guam at the furthest. Stop causing problems in the SCS ( South China Sea !! that name !!!

It's not China's sea any more than the Gulf of Mexico is Mexico's.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

LegrandeToday 01:02 pm JST

Don’t care how you want to live in your own country, but if you start trying to expand your borders and take over international waters, then we have a problem.

Ah okay then it's okay to illegally invade no WMD Iraq, kill thousands and take over their oil, right?

So laughably biased.

So laughably ignoring the problems of today. That's why we call this apologism. Btw, the US owns zero oil wells in Iraq, afaik.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

NATO has been used to justify military operations-

[ On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 ]

People then argue that it was justified due to Qhadafy killing Libyan citizens without referring to the fact that the US (confirmed by US diplomatic cables) had actively encouraged and supported the Arab Spring uprising whose combatants Qhadafy was fighting against.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

@TaiwanIsNotChina

Btw, the US owns zero oil wells in Iraq, afaik.

It doesn't matter if they own any, so long as they have access to, which they have plenty of.

In fact it is from the playbook to avoid ownership in order to avoid accusations of imperialism.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

It takes the QUAD, AUKUS and NATO to counter China. That is how strong China has become.

It is more about how dangerous China has become than anything else. They want to take from others and subjugate others and that is bad enough. But when it is side by side with the biggest military buildup since WWII it becomes dangerous and precautions must be taken for protection against such belligerence. Everyone can see that.

China is upset that others dont roll over and allow it to rule the planet. There is excellent reason for people to oppose China, given how they rule their own nation and the territories they occupy.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

What ol' Jack Burton always saysToday 11:47 am JST

Alright, let's see what we got here.

These "alliances" are forming only because of China's continuing behavior that is threatening to plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts.

Nonsense !

There would be no one for the US to ally with if China weren't a garbage neighbor.

The U.S big Brothers world police dominance hegemonic agenda has caused more conflicts to escalate that it has succeeded in de-escalating.

Hrm, you think that could be because of the dictatorship cabal pushing at every opportunity?

The USA continuously criticizes everyone and takes advantage of any conflicts and encourages them.

We criticize because we have principles. It is easy to just sell debt to every thug in the world like the dictatorship cabal.

U.S isn't successful at freedom and democracy.

Your country has to have had freedom and democracy before you can talk about who is successful at freedom and democracy.

Different types of slavery is what the USA is all about.

You country has to have a living wage before you can talk about slavery.

So, to rephrase, China can arm itself to the teeth, threaten its neighbours, militarise the sea, claim territory that was never theirs and manipulate poor countries

Oh for crying out loud you think that China is the only nation that's doing that or has done that ?

Since I assume you are talking about the US, as you like to do, I believe some sources are in order that neighbors have been threatened and territory has been claimed by the US.

Meanwhile NATO peace keepers are beating protesters with batons !

That's what peace keepers do. You thought they would just sit there and observe like the UN?

Lets face the fact that NATO is a military guilty of using weapons of mass destruction and has so far caused more deaths and injuries and destruction than it has saved.

I believe Ukraine would beg to differ.

Same old historical game as ever - China is getting too strong and successful and the jealous fearful insecure Americans and allies need to use war to chisel China down.

No, but China will stay within borders that have been established under international law.

USA can start by giving sovereignty back to Hawaii and everywhere else it stole.

Sorry, we aren't reevaluating things from the 19th century unless you would also like to reevaluate China's right to rule over Tibet. And your best friend Russia last annexed territory in 2022.

USA cant stop sticking it nose into everyone else's business trying to lecture the world how to live in freedom , meanwhile their own country is a pathetic quagmire joke of a domestically United nation with all the drugs , shootings, crimes and woke phenomenon shenanigans.

I hope you get a good laugh at us on the CCTV, but China's condescending attitude towards freedom will only cause its citizens to question it more.

Time to realize most of the world is probably extremely concerned it will be America that uses weapons of mass destruction in the name of freedom and wont get held accountable.

Nope, it is still Putin's war in Ukraine and will be China's war over Taiwan.

This American wild west structureless arrogant world dominance bogus freedom will be it's own demise.

Dollar Strong, Stock Market Up, Troops Safe.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

People then argue that it was justified due to Qhadafy killing Libyan citizens without referring to the fact that the US (confirmed by US diplomatic cables) had actively encouraged and supported the Arab Spring uprising whose combatants Qhadafy was fighting against.

I'm impressed you think the CIA can just run entire insurrections where it barely has any agents.

It doesn't matter if they own any, so long as they have access to, which they have plenty of.

Iraq can sell oil to whomever it wants. It's called the free market. The fact that they are still pumping and pumping so much shows you that it isn't some decimated hellscape.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

[ On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 ]

So all members of the UN security council allowed the resolution to pass, including China and Russia who both could have vetoed the resolution, but didnt. So all are guilty for what happened as a result of that resolution. Now we can all rightly blame Russia and China for Libya as well as NATO, right? Of course we can.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Someone should inform the Chinese that not only does every nation have a right of self-defense, but that every nation has the right to join a voluntary collective self-defense org.

And if China wasn't such a hegenomic power, they wouldn't have to worry about a Pacific version on NATO.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

@Legrande

Nice fiction, but people legitimately can want their government gone and millions and millions did not die in Iraq.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Opposite is actually true! China would be less likely to use force!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Of course China would say that, like russia whined on publicly about NATO being a threat to it while privately they knew full well it was no threat to russia, what it was, was an inconvenient block in the way of their colonialist, imperialist plans for expansion.

So also any equivalent organisation would prevent China from bullying and undermining its weaker neighbours and eventually obliterating and absorbing them.

So no surprise they will rant, threaten and propagandise to try and prevent any semblance of cooperation among those they plan in the long term to dominate and control.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Odd. NATO has kept the peace across Europe and prevented the USSR and Russia from invading. Seems like a good idea to me. Just swap Russia for China/CCP and NATO for every non-dictatorship in the Asian-Pacific region.

Looks like NATO works. After all, all the members are still free. Still have choice, freedom of speech (for the most part), guaranteed freedom of their press, and no walls preventing travel on the whim of a dictator between NATO members.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

The US supports democracy around the world. If China were to become a democracy ... say, like Taiwan is, then nobody would be building coalitions to address concerns. The CCP has always been using the might of the state to aid only their businesses, not provide a free and open market for all. The rule of law in China is greatly slanted towards Chinese companies and even more slanted if CCP members have a stake in the company.

In the US, it is common for national office holders to divest their business holdings or at least have them turned over to a "blind trust" where the elected official doesn't know which, if any, companies their personal wealth is tied. I think only Trump violated that, because it isn't a law, but a common practice to prevent the appearance of favoritism.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

theFu, yep it’s time West Taiwan learned from their elders in Taiwan!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If China were to become a democracy ... say, like Taiwan is, then nobody would be building coalitions to address concerns.

I can assure you this will not be the case. Even if they were a democracy there would be coalitions because what the system of government is not the issue but that China behaves like a strong country with power is.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

when it comes to using chemical weapons like the MK-77

The Mk-77 bomb is not a chemical weapon. It is an incendiary bomb. It's similar to napalm but replaces the gasoline with kerosene and uses less polystyrene than napalm did. It's not a chemical weapon.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

nuclear bullets 

The bovine excrement just gets deeper. Depleted Uranium or DU is what is left over from the enrichment process. It is not a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bullet. Since it is depleted uranium it has very little radioactivity but is very dense and hard. DU has multiple commercial uses as radiation shielding for medical instruments and for the transport of more radioactive materials as well as for trim tab counterweights on aircraft.

The US uses DU for armor on tanks (reportedly, the actual composition of the armor is classified but the urban legend says there is DU in the armor) and uses DU as the long rod penetrator of the Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discard Sabot, or APFSDS for short, anti tank round fired from the Abrams main gun.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Not chemicals ?

Ok sure !

The MK -77 also contains white phosphorus and other additives which you have very conveniently decided to not include in your description ! ! !

Explosives of all types use chemicals to create explosion and / or fire. Gun powder is composed of chemicals but is not a chemical weapon. An incendiary weapon like a Mk-77 bomb uses fire to destroy a target. It is not a chemical weapon by any definition. A chemical weapons spreads an aerosol of chemical that people breathe and die from. That is not how a Mk-77 bomb works. They are very different things.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

As usual there's a misunderstanding that there's more types of democracy than the USA and that China does in fact have democratic facets to it's government

Nonsense. There is nothing even a tiny bit democratic about PRC. The Chinese people have no say in who rules them. Nobody at any level of government in China ever stands for election by the people they serve. The Chinese public has no say in the laws they are expected to obey. They have no right to protest. That right was stripped from the Chinese Constitution in the 1980s. They have no right to free speech and the right post banners, formerly protected by their constitution was repealed in the 1980s along with the right to protest. They are slaves to the CCP.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Here is the refutation to your false claim about radioactive bullets. I will start with a quote from the article.

"Depleted uranium is a dense by-product left over when uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons."

"The United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Pakistan produce uranium weapons, which are not classified as nuclear weapons, according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons."

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-are-depleted-uranium-weapons-what-are-risks-2023-03-23/

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If the pathetic criminal NATO circUS tries to corner China, they are going to find themselves with the third world war..

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

@What ol' Jack Burton always says

Learn about other democracies and realize what democracy means.

I know there is a Press Freedom Index in which China is rock bottom. There are democracies and non-democracies, and China is firmly in the latter.

I Don't support China in the least but however iam not ignorant either.

That's a laugh.

When the chinese people finally rised up in protest of the government zero-COVID measures the government ended Zero-COVID measures.

Hence a democratic facet.

They shouldn't have to be going to the streets and risking arrest to avoid being welded into their apartments.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@What ol' Jack Burton always saysToday 09:41 am JST

the 12 core socialist national values of the china goverment are - prosperity ,democracy , civility , harmony , freedom , equality ,justice , rule of law , patriotism ,dedication ,integrity, and friendship .

China isn't a liberal democracy

That's why we have a Press Freedom Index, so we can firmly separate the liars from the real thing.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

What Xi is plainly saying is that communal efforts to defend themselves will be meant with the threat of aggression from the Chinese military. What is understood without him saying it is that without communal efforts to defend themselves, the countries around China have little chance of defending themselves from the Chinese military.

My own take on matters is that Xi, Putin and Kim will do everything they can to promote Trump again, or someone like him, so that they will stop having interference from the United States on the world stage.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

met, not meant

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It is an absolute fact that depleted uranium weapons were used in Iraq by the US, and it is likewise true that there has been a huge uptick in birth deformities linked to said weapons as well as the chemical wastes dumped in the vicinity of American bases in Iraq.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

@What ol' Jack Burton always says

So you honestly believe the USA press ?

When it is backed up by the rest of the free press in the world, yes.

and the Chinese national 12 values are false.

Yes CCP platitudes are generally nonsense and definitely not of any serious political science merit.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

What ol' Jack Burton always says

So you honestly believe the USA press ?

When it is backed up by the rest of the free press in the world, yes.

Numerous examples where it was learned in hindsight that the US media put out false narratives that were lapped up by "the rest of the free press in the world."

The CIA admitted at a Congressional hearing that they had routinely been planting stories in the western press.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Maybe don't attack civilian centers and there would not need to be these alliances against it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Kyodo News, a Japanese news outlet, citing a Financial Times article of June 5, says that French President Emmanuel Macron is opposed to the opening of NATO's liaison office in Tokyo.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Press freedom index ?

Whaaat the F ?

So you honestly believe the USA press ?

In the US I can read the press of any nation I choose and my daily news habit includes sites from North America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. One cannot do the same in China unless they have a VPN, which is illegal. As for press freedom, the US government does not prosecute reporters for what they report. You can harshly criticize politicians without fear of retribution because that is protected free speech. Reporters can and routinely do expose malfeasance and corruption on the part of public officials. That is not permitted in China. In the US the press offers a variety of competing points of view you can read and believe or not. It is up to the gentle reader to decide. In China you have no such freedom to criticize their leaders, it will land you in jail for "Picking Quarrels and Causing Trouble", which earns one a five year sentence in jail.

If China is so free what happened to Peng Shuai? Stop with the bs, you are not fooling anyone.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It is an absolute fact that depleted uranium weapons were used in Iraq by the US, and it is likewise true that there has been a huge uptick in birth deformities linked to said weapons as well as the chemical wastes dumped in the vicinity of American bases in Iraq.

Yes, the US used DU rounds for armored warfare. Nobody denies that. The rest of your post is simply not true. It is an allegation that is not backed by any serious peer reviewed science. In fact the actual science says the opposite.

You are also confusing burn pits with DU ammunition. There are well documented health problems caused by the burn pits used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nobody disputes that. Mr. Biden's son died from a cancer likely caused by exposure to burn pits (incidentally when I worked overseas on an oil development project all of our trash was similarly incinerated in burn pits using diesel fuels so that technique is not confined to the US military ). But the burn pit health problems are not related to the US of DU ammunition in armored warfare.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I agree international rules must be respected.

It starts with the US ratifying the unclos.

Actually, the United States has been a signatory of UNCLOS since 1982. What they haven't ratified are amendments to it. Meanwhile, it is China who operates several hundred miles from its nearest soil while seeking to claim total sovereignty over an entire sea. It is China who is in violation of UNCLOS, not the United States.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently said that he wouldn't oppose the setting-up of NATO's liaison office in Tokyo, adding, though, that Japan would not join NATO.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

China's caution is a welcome development for other Asian countries. Russia and China are basically the only countries that are afraid of the strengthening of NATO.

China's increase in military spending, second only to the United States, is not a welcome thing for Asian countries.

If China really wants peace in Asia, it must cut its military spending and try to reduce its territorial ambitions and friction with its neighbors.

But that seems impossible for the Chinese government.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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