Beijing urges NATO to discard 'Cold War mentality, stop hyping up China threat narratives'

Beijing on Thursday called on NATO to discard what it called its “Cold War mentality” against China.

“NATO is a regional alliance for defense with a clearly defined scope of mission and geographic boundaries. It needs to stop finding fault with China,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

Mao said China “is a force for world peace. It never threatens anyone nor does it pose any challenge to Euro-Atlantic security.”

“NATO should discard the outdated Cold War mentality, address its perception of China, and stop hyping up the so-called China threat narratives,” Mao added.

The statement came after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held a joint meeting with top officials of the bloc’s four partners from the Asia-Pacific region on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Türkiye this week.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Australian Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy, and New Zealand Defense Minister Chris Penk attended NATO’s Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday.

Although they are not NATO members, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan have been invited to the alliance’s annual summits as guests since 2022.