NATO leaders have labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its “large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base.”

In the statement touted as the most serious rebuke against Beijing from the alliance, the NATO leaders called China’s deepening ties with Russia a cause of “deep concern.”

The final communique, approved by the 32 NATO members at the summit in Washington, also raised alarm that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems.

Calling the statement an important message, NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg said, “I think the message sent from NATO from this summit is very strong and very clear, and we are clearly defining China’s responsibility when it comes to enabling Russia’s war.”

NATO leaders urged China “to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort.”

“This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector,” the declaration said.

Beijing insists that it does not provide direct military aid to Russia, but has maintained strong trade ties with its neighbour throughout the conflict.

The final communique also accused China of being behind sustained, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation.

This week Chinese troops have been conducting joint military drills in Belarus, to which neighbouring Poland says it is paying close attention. China and Belarus are allies of Russia, while Poland is a Nato member and supporter of Kyiv.

China has previously held joint drills with Belarus, though these are the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The “Falcon Assault” drills started on Monday and are set to run until mid-July, with China’s defence ministry saying it hoped to deepen cooperation with Minsk.

Meanwhile, Taiwan disclosed on Thursday, July 11, 2024, that it is watching China’s military movements after detecting the most Chinese warplanes near the island in a 24-hour window so far this year, as Beijing conducts drills that are coinciding with the NATO summit.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that “66 PLA aircraft and seven PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6am [22:00 GMT Wednesday] today.”

Of those, 56 aircraft crossed the sensitive median line that bisects the narrow 180-kilometre (112-mile) waterway separating the self-governing island from mainland China.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry also released two pictures of a Chinese J-16 fighter and a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, which it said were taken recently.

“The military has a detailed grasp of the activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including of the Chinese communists’ aircraft and ships,” ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said.

NATO Joint Statement Earns China’s Displeasure

China’s foreign ministry expressed displeasure at NATO’s growing interest in Asia and demanded that the alliance stays out of the Asia-Pacific region and not incite confrontation.

Beijing’s mission to the EU said the summit was “filled with cold war mentality and belligerent rhetoric.”

“The China-related paragraphs are provocative with obvious lies and smears,” the mission said in a statement.

“NATO should stop hyping up the so-called China threat and provoking confrontation and rivalry and do more to contribute to world peace and stability,” a spokesperson for Beijing’s mission to the European Union said in a statement on Thursday.

As we all know, China is not the creator of the crisis in Ukraine,” the Chinese official asserted.

“China’s core position on the Ukraine issue is to promote peace talks and political settlement, which has been widely recognised and appreciated by the international community,” the spokesperson insisted.