Blinken says China threatens NATO, calls for joint approach to

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a strong rebuke Wednesday of China’s sweeping use of coercive measures and urged NATO allies to work with the U.S. in order to mount pushback on Beijing.

Blinken, in an address at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said the U.S. wouldn’t force its European allies into an “us or them choice.” However, he made clear that Washington views China as an economic and security threat, particularly in the realm of technology, to NATO allies in Europe.

“There’s no question that Beijing’s coercive behavior threatens our collective security and prosperity and that it is actively working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share,” Blinken said after holding two days of consultations with NATO allies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, is an alliance made up of 30 member nations.

The secretary said there is still space to cooperate with China on common challenges like climate change and health security, but called for NATO to stand together when Beijing coerces one of the alliance’s members.

“We know that our allies have complex relationships with China that won’t always align perfectly with ours. But we need to navigate these challenges together. That means working with our allies to close the gaps in areas like technology and infrastructure, where Beijing is exploiting to exert coercive pressure,” Blinken said.

“When one of us is coerced we should respond as allies and work together to reduce our vulnerability by insuring our economies are more integrated with each other,” America’s top diplomat said.

Blinken called out China’s militarization of the South China Sea, use of predatory economics, intellectual property theft and human rights abuses.

On Monday, the Biden administration slapped fresh sanctions on two Chinese officials, citing their roles in serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The Department of the Treasury accused China of using repressive tactics for the last five years against Uyghurs and other members of ethnic minorities in the region, including mass detentions and surveillance.

“Targets of this surveillance are often detained and reportedly subjected to various methods of torture and ‘political reeducation,'” the Treasury wrote in a statement.

Beijing has previously rejected U.S. charges that it has committed genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim population indigenous to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

Blinken’s comments come on the heels of a contentious meeting between Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska.

Ahead of the Alaska talks, Blinken slammed China’s sweeping use of “coercion and aggression” on the international…