NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte began an official visit to Japan on April 8—his first trip to the Asia-Pacific region since assuming the post. China’s Global Times notes: “Rutte’s visit to Japan is by no means coincidental. It represents yet another step in NATO’s accelerated infiltration into the Asia-Pacific in recent years. In 2022, NATO’s strategic concept document labeled China a ‘systemic challenge’ for the first time. By doing so, NATO essentially created an excuse for its involvement in the Asia-Pacific region, despite the fact that this region lies far outside NATO’s traditional area of focus. Three years later, China continues to be framed as the primary justification for NATO’s new secretary general. In an interview prior to the trip, Rutte described China as a threat, stating ‘We cannot be naive about China’ and pointing to ‘the buildup of China’s defense industrial base.’”
Rutte further said today, while speaking at the U.S. military base in Yokosuka: “China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace, so we cannot be naïve and we really have to work together to assess what is happening.”
