The Chinese Embassy in the EU on Friday stated that what it said was NATO's expansion strategy is dragging the planet toward a new Cold War.
According to
the diplomatic statement, an embassy spokesperson said that the language was intended to "fan the flames
to stir up trouble". Instead, the government of Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed that it is "firmly opposed" to NATO's "groundless accusations and suspicions, as well as any attempts to exert coercion and pressure against China".
The spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy also pointed out that following the eruption of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Beijing has been "working actively and constructively" to assist peace talks, conflict resolution, and the avoidance of a large-scale humanitarian crisis in an objective and unbiased manner. "Time will prove that China is on the right side of history", the spokesperson asserted.
Meanwhile, according to the embassy, as a Cold War "remnant and the world's largest military alliance, NATO follows an outdated security concept".
The Chinese Embassy spokesperson also noted that on 24 March 1999, NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "causing thousands of casualties", including some Chinese citizens, and displacing hundreds of thousands. "The lessons of history must not be forgotten", the mission said.
On Thursday, NATO
condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine as a "threat" to global security, with the Kremlin calling it "escalatory rhetoric [...] irresponsible and destabilising".
NATO has called on "all states", including China, to "uphold the international order including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity", and refrain from supporting Russia in any way, and to refrain from taking any action that aids Moscow in evading sanctions. NATO also said that the Xi administration's public statements have "alarmed" the bloc, while urging Beijing not to support what it said were Russia's "false narratives...in particular on the war and on NATO".
China has consistently replied to accusations from the West that it is supporting the Russian government by respecting international law and Ukraine's sovereignty, but adding that the security concerns that Russia claimed sparked the crisis must not be overlooked. The statement from the embassy reaffirmed that position, as well as Beijing's demand for a ceasefire and an end to the special military operation.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the goal of the special military operation in Ukraine "the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years". According to Putin, a "demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine" must be carried out so as to bring to justice war criminals responsible for the "bloody crimes against civilians" in Donbass.