NATO puts China on notice over aggression in Pacific

NATO’s declaration that China is a security threat, pursuing ambitions and coercive behaviour that “challenge our interests, security and values”, is a plus for Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia. It is an important recognition that the threat and effects of Chinese aggression extend beyond this region to Europe and other parts of the world. It is a significant moment in the free world’s push back against Xi Jinping’s efforts to dominate the global order. NATO’s updated 10-year Strategic Concept cites China’s malicious cyber operations, its strategic partnership with Russia, its efforts to dominate key supply chains and its rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal. Russia’s “brutal and unlawful invasion” of Ukraine had “gravely altered our security environment”, NATO said. The Russian invasion is what prompted Finland and Sweden, which previously were non-aligned, to seek NATO membership. After Turkey dropped its objections, the Madrid summit took a major step forward to accommodate the two newcomers, whose membership will need to be ratified by the parliaments of the 30 current member states. The new NATO blueprint recommitted the alliance, the world’s largest military pact, to collective defence “against all threats from all directions”. As Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday: “The security of Europe and the security of the Indo-Pacific cannot be decoupled.” The invasion of Ukraine had shaken the foundations of the global order.

In view of Australia’s intense interest in China’s role in the Pacific, the NATO summit in Madrid was an important meeting for Anthony Albanese to attend with his Japanese, South Korean and New Zealand counterparts. As the Prime Minister told NATO leaders, Beijing and Moscow shared a “lack of democratic values”. And their increasing closeness posed a risk to all democracies: “Just as Russia seeks to re-create a Russian or Soviet empire, the Chinese government is seeking friends, whether it be … through economic support to build up alliances to undermine what has historically been the Western alliance in places like the Indo-Pacific.” China should learn the lessons of Russia’s failed invasion of Ukraine and condemn the action, he said.

China’s hostile response to Mr Albanese’s comments shows Beijing will be no more reasonable now than it was with the Morrison government. An editorial in the state-owned news outlet China Daily said the Albanese government “has displayed no signs of changing the course set by its predecessor”. It also claimed, wrongly, that Mr Albanese did not know China’s stance on the Ukrainian crisis. The new government had not reciprocated the goodwill shown by China, it claimed.

In addition to security issues, Mr Albanese’s talks with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the NATO summit, where she agreed to fast-track negotiations for an Australia-EU trade deal, should lead to a beneficial outcome for Australian exporters. During a winter in which the nation’s power grid has struggled to keep up with demand, however, Mr Albanese is less convincing telling global leaders at the OECD in Paris that Australia will play a key role in easing energy shortages caused by the war in Ukraine and will be at the forefront of international climate co-operation. Like most of the developed world, including Germany, which is reactivating idle coal-fired power plants to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, Australia is far from producing and storing sufficient renewable energy to carry this nation’s baseload power needs, let alone lecture or assist other nations.

But Mr Albanese’s pledge to help alleviate food shortages in poorer countries with Australian exports had more credibility, especially after several good seasons. Australia emerged as the world’s second largest wheat exporter in the 2021-22 financial year, with growers enjoying a third successive year of near-record production.