China has accused Nato of smearing the country and demanded the transatlantic alliance stay out of Asia, as its military demonstrated growing clout with record numbers of air operations near Taiwan and naval drills near the Philippines.
Beijing lashed out on Thursday at Nato’s accusation that China had become a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Nato’s 32 leaders demanded on Wednesday that China “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort” in its strongest-ever condemnation of Beijing.
In a joint statement at its annual summit in Washington, Nato said Beijing’s “large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base . . . increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security”.