China Refutes NATO Statement that it Poses 'Systemic Challenges' to International Community

Beijing says NATO’s description that China poses “systemic challenges” to the international community is an exaggeration.

China’s mission to the European Union issued a statement Tuesday in response to a communique issued by the leaders of the trans-Atlantic alliance the day before. In that statement, NATO leaders pledged to join forces against China’s increasingly aggressive military posture, which it said threatened “the rules-based international order.”

The mission said NATO’s accusations were “a slander on China’s peaceful development, a misjudgment of the international situation and its own role, and a continuation of the Cold War mentality and organizational political psychology.”

Tuesday’s statement is the second time in as many days that China has countered criticism from Western-based international alliances. The Chinese embassy in London issued a statement Monday accusing the leaders of the G-7 of interfering in its internal affairs.

The G-7 issued a communique at the end of its summit criticizing Beijing’s human rights record involving its abuses of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, including the detention of more than one million Uyghurs into detention camps, and its tightening control of semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

The separate communiques came during U.S. President Joe Biden’s first face-to-face summits with Washington’s traditional allies since taking office in January.