BRUSSELS, June 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday there is no new Cold War with China but the western allies will have to adapt to the challenge of Beijing’s rise.
“We’re not entering a new Cold War and China is not our adversary, not our enemy,” Stoltenberg told reports after a NATO leaders’ summit.
“But we need to address together, as the alliance, the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security.”
“You’re not going to see like paragraphs and paragraphs about China in the communique and the language is not going to be inflammatory,” said Jake Sullivan, US Pres Biden’s National Security Advisor.
“It’s going to be clear, straightforward and direct.”
Biden arrived Sunday in Brussels for two days of summits with leaders from the NATO military alliance and the European Union.
Biden, on his first foreign trip as president, flew in from Britain, where he attended a G7 summit, and was welcomed by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
After a handshake and a brief exchange of words, he got into the armoured limousine known as “The Beast” to head for the US embassy in Brussels, his base during his stay there.
Brussels has launched a major security operation to ensure the safety of Biden and the leaders of the 28 other NATO members states arriving for the summit. Brussels residents have been warned to expect disruption to their normal routines.
The summit is expected to see Biden mark a resumption of the US’s leading role in NATO after the disruption of the Trump presidency. — NNN-AGENCIES
