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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivers remarks at a press conference in Washington on Thursday. Photo: AP

Biden warns China’s Xi of ‘price’ over aid to Russia as Nato summit ends

  • Nato secretary general assails authoritarian regimes and Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong, South China Sea and Taiwan
Nato
Beijing came under attack by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for a second day on Thursday, as US President Joe Biden warned of a “price” over its assistance to Russia and for its more aggressive posture in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

“We have to make sure that [Chinese President Xi Jinping] understands there’s a price to pay for undercutting both the Pacific basin as well as Europe, and it relates to Russia and dealing with Ukraine”, he said while briefing the press at the conclusion of Nato’s annual summit in Washington.

Biden, who met with Xi in November of 2023 to stablise a bilateral relationship that was in a deep freeze, added that if Beijing continues to supply “mechanisms” that allow Moscow to arm its war machine, the world’s second largest economy is “not going to benefit economically as a consequence of that” and get “the kind of investment they’re looking for”.

Biden’s appearance on Thursday evening was his first one-on-one interaction with the press in eight months. The 81-year-old has come under intense pressure from fellow Democrats about his chances for re-election this fall following his poor performance in a debate against his presumptive Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump, last month.

02:58

China rejects Nato claim of being ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia in Ukraine war

China rejects Nato claim of being ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia in Ukraine war

Asked if he will be able to “handle” Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi a few years from now, Biden said “I’m dealing with Xi right now” and he had established “direct contact” with the Chinese leader since their last meeting.

The Nato statement on Wednesday, produced after a high-level, heads-of-state meeting, said China, its interests and reputation would suffer if it did not cease supplying political and material support to Russia’s war effort.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected such accusations, calling the latest statement “unjustified and malicious”.

Earlier on Thursday, the chief of the security alliance accused the Chinese government of widespread oppression, calling for closer cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said China was “oppressing its own people” by “crushing democratic voices” in Hong Kong and displaying “more assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, threatening neighbours, threatening Taiwan”.

Stoltenberg added that Beijing was “conducting a huge military build-up with no transparency and investing heavily in new, modern missiles [and] nuclear weapons”.

He also described the recent joint military drills between China and Belarus near Poland’s border as a confirmation of “authoritarian” regimes aligning “more and more” and “coming closer to Nato” territory, Africa and the Arctic.

“The Chinese exercise, together with the Belarusian forces in Belarus is part of a pattern. It just confirms how authoritarian regimes are aligning more and more,” Stoltenberg said.

03:16

Hungary’s Orban meets Xi during self-styled Ukraine ‘peace mission’ panned by West

Hungary’s Orban meets Xi during self-styled Ukraine ‘peace mission’ panned by West
On the last day of the summit friction surfaced within Nato’s ranks, as Hungary declared its opposition to turning the bloc into an “anti-China” coalition.

“Nato is a defence alliance … we can’t organise it into an anti-China bloc,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on the sidelines of the transatlantic security alliance’s annual summit in Washington.

Szijjarto also voiced concerns over what top Nato officials and leaders have called Ukraine’s “irreversible” path to membership, saying Kyiv’s “admission wouldn’t strengthen but weaken the unity’s alliance”.

Responding to a question from Hungarian state media, the foreign minister said there were “completely different viewpoints” on the issue.

Hungary became a Nato member in 1999.

Just minutes before the Nato leaders convened on Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the alliance was “moving away” from its goal of maintaining peace.

Instead, Orban said, Nato was “behaving more and more like a war organisation”, adding that Hungary would not take part in the alliance’s “Ukraine mission”.

Before flying to the American capital, Orban last week travelled to Moscow and Beijing and held peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Orban’s unilateral moves have angered many in Europe, with Stoltenberg describing the far-right prime minister’s efforts as “unhelpful”.
As a punitive gesture, some European Union member states have refrained from sending their officials to EU meetings chaired by Hungary.

On July 1, Hungary took over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency.

When it did, Hungary adopted the slogan, “Make Europe Great Again” – reminiscent of the “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan promoted by former US president Donald Trump, a vocal Nato critic.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the US 2024 presidential election, is poised to face US President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 contest.

Asked about the EU members’ boycott on Thursday, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, sought to distance the bloc from Orban’s self-described “peace” initiatives.

“The rotating presidency doesn’t represent the EU at the external level,” said Michel. “This episode has shown a strong EU determination to support Ukraine, a strong determination to maintain all the efforts to pressure Russia,” Michel added.

European Council President Charles Michel on Thursday. Photo: AP

Finland, Nato’s newest member and a long-time EU constituent, said it was not worried about frictions within the two groupings. At present, the EU and Nato have 23 members in common.

“I’m not concerned so much about the divide because Viktor is in such a distinct minority, but I fundamentally disagree with his approach and I’ll say it out loud,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Thursday, referring to Orban.

“I don’t think there’s any point in having conversations with authoritarian regimes that are violating international law.”

“Viktor Orban has no mandate from the [Nato] alliance nor from the European Union to conduct any form of negotiations,” Stubb added.

Even as a crescendo of opposition to Orban builds across Europe, the Hungarian leader has not shied away from stating his preference for Trump in the coming US election. It is a preference that is understood not to be widely shared on the continent.

Stubb expressed confidence in Biden’s leadership, professing “absolutely no concerns about the capacity of the current president of the United States to lead”.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Photo: EPA-EFE
Meanwhile, Orban was reportedly slated to meet Trump in Florida on Thursday after the summit.

Trump has heaped criticism on Nato since before he became president in 2016. He has vowed to cut off American aid to Ukraine if he wins election in November.

Earlier this week, the Republican leader said he “didn’t know what the hell Nato was too much before”, but it didn’t take him “two minutes to figure it out”.

In March, Trump and Orban met at the former president’s private club and residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida. During that meeting, Trump praised Orban.

“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban,” he said. “He’s fantastic.”

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday refused to speculate whether Orban’s visits to Russia and China had been coordinated with Trump, describing the travels as “adventurism” and lacking any coordination with the Ukrainians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
At the three-day summit ending on Thursday, Nato has pledged more than US$40 billion to Ukraine in 2025. The aid includes new air-defence systems from the US and Germany as well as F-16 fighter jets from the US, the Netherlands and Denmark.

More than 2o countries and the European Union have signed the Ukraine Compact this week, making short and long-term commitments of support.

Addressing journalists alongside Stoltenberg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the pledged aid as a “success” for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Kyiv’s entry into Nato would be a “success” for the alliance, Zelensky said, as he urged Ukraine’s allies to lift remaining restrictions on its use of their weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Asked if he knew about Orban’s travels, the Ukrainian leader replied: “Not all leaders can make negotiations.”

Stoltenberg pointed to Wednesday’s joint declaration, saying “it’s not for Nato to try to regulate the kind of travel plans for different Nato leaders”.

“What matters for Nato is that all Nato allies agree on the policy, and we have, yesterday, agreed a very strong declaration from the 32 allies expressing our support to Ukraine,” he said.

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