The Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed today, Wednesday, that the Asia-Pacific region is not a battleground for geopolitical competition.
Commenting on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's recent visit to South Korea and Japan, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, "NATO should seriously consider the role it plays in maintaining European security."
"What I want to stress is that the Asia-Pacific region is not a battleground for geopolitical competition, and confrontation and the Cold War mentality are not welcome," she added.
It is noteworthy that Stoltenberg visited South Korea and Japan two days ago as part of a tour aimed at strengthening NATO relations with Seoul and Tokyo in the face of the war on Ukraine and the growing competition with China.
Stoltenberg said - in an interview with South Korea's Yonhap News Agency - that he strongly believes in the need to strengthen "the partnership between Korea and NATO, because security becomes more and more intertwined."
Stoltenberg emphasized NATO's pursuit of closer cooperation with partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and highlighted the threats posed by China, a country the alliance first described as a "security challenge" in its main strategic document last year.
In his meeting with Yonhap, Stoltenberg indicated that "global threats and challenges, including those emanating from China, must be addressed, and one way to do that is, of course, to work more closely with partners in the region."