NATO chief calls for tough stance on China as summit begins

Stoltenberg comments as the Brussels summit, US President Biden’s first such meeting, gets under way.

As the annual NATO leaders summit begins, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for the transatlantic security alliance to confront the challenges of China’s rise and respond to its growing economic, political and military power. Stoltenberg on Monday denied that Western powers and China were entering a “new Cold War”, but said Beijing did not share the values of the 30-member group. “China is not our adversary, not our enemy. But we need to address together as an alliance the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security,” he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, before leaders began arriving for the summit.