US Foreign Minister Calls NATO Highlights China's Military Development Scheme And Cooperation With Russia

Antony Blinken. (Wikimedia Commons/State Department/Ron Przysucha)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is concerned about China's rapid and opaque military build-up and its cooperation with Russia, discussing concrete ways to address the challenges posed by Beijing on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"Our members of the alliance remain concerned about the policy of coercion of the RRT (Chinese People's Republic), with the use of disinformation, with its fast and opaque military build-up, including cooperation with Russia," Blinken told a news conference after a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries.

"But we are also committed to maintaining a constructive dialogue with China wherever we can. And we welcome the opportunity to work together in facing shared challenges."

Foreign Minister Blinken said while NATO continues to focus on maintaining integrated support for Ukraine, members also want to increase alliance resilience by considering new challenges, including those posed by China.

"What we are talking about today, once again, ensures that we are working to adapt in a concrete way to face challenges," Foreign Minister Blinken explained without elaborating.

Blinken's remarks came after Moscow said strategic warplanes from Russia and China, including the long-range Tupolev-95 bomber " bear", carried out joint patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

That makes Washington's ally South Korea say it has bent fighter jets as two Chinese fighter jets and six Russian warplanes, as they enter its air defense identification zone.

It also comes after a Pentagon report said China is likely to have a supply of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 at its current pace, underscoring the growing U.S. concerns about Beijing's intention to expand its arsenal.

China and Russia worried the United States and its allies by announcing an "infinity" strategic partnership with Russia in February, just days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

South Korea and its neighbor Japan have since developed closer ties with NATO, attending the June NATO summit as observers, with South Korean companies sending weapons to Russian neighbors and members of NATO Poland this year.

The United States and its allies recognize competition to form a world after the Cold War.

"There is also an acknowledgment that there are also in many ways, which Europeans call systemic competition between China and many of our countries," Blinken said.

"But there is also an acknowledgment that as much as possible, we must find a way to work together on a very big problem," he concluded.