Nato cannot be “naive” about China’s military development, as the Indo-Pacific and European theatres are becoming “more intertwined”, evident in Beijing’s support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Nato’s Secretary General has said.
During a pre-summit press conference on Monday, a day before the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte responded to questions about a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine firing a test missile into the Pacific.
Rutte said that Nato “cannot be naive” about China, noting that he had already discussed the issue via text with Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
China launched what it called a “strategic missile” on Monday carrying a dummy warhead from its nuclear-powered submarine towards the Pacific, in a first known submarine-based missile test since 1982.
“This is why we have this close cooperation, because these theatres are getting more intertwined, connected,” Rutte explained.