Reflecting the fine line China’s Asian neighbors must walk, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said his precedent-setting trip to the just-concluded NATO summit should not be seen as a shot across Beijing’s bow.
NATO leaders, in their new Strategic Doctrine adopted at the Madrid summit, for the first time labeled China a “systemic challenge” for the transatlantic alliance, and strongly criticized China’s warming ties with Russia.
Mr. Yoon’s attendance at the NATO summit as an “observer,” including a brief trilateral meeting with President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, sparked an angry response from China, which accused NATO of seeking to extend its military influence into Asia and contain China’s rise.