By NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Beijing has accused NATO of thinking “as it did during the Cold War,” following criticism of China at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that NATO was confusing “right and wrong” and has “ideological prejudices that China firmly rejects.”
He said that while NATO claims to be a defence alliance, it encourages its member states to constantly increase their military spending, expand their power across borders and provoke confrontations in the Asia-Pacific region as well. In contrast, he said, China is a “promoter of world peace”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, after the talks in Vilnius, that Beijing’s increasingly brash behaviour was affecting the security of the defence alliance.
He described China’s nuclear armament programme as “unprecedented” in its speed and scale, and said that it is being carried out without any transparency.