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The Chinese spokesperson said: “We will follow very closely NATO’s strategic adjustment and its policy adjustment towards China.
“China will not present ‘systemic challenges’ to anyone, but we will not sit by and do nothing if ‘systemic challenges’ come closer to us.”
The spokesperson also urged the alliance to stop “hyping up in any forum the so-called ‘China threat’.”
Just days before the NATO summit, G7 leaders proposed plans to provide infrastructure financing as a democratic alternative to China’s belt and road initiative.
The Chinese mega-project adopted by Beijing in 2013 is considered the centrepiece of Xi Jinping’s foreign strategy and looks to expand the country’s economic and political influence in more than 70 countries.
The aim of the G7 plan is to accelerate green economic growth by providing financing for projects such as railways in Africa and wind farms in Asia.
Although the G7 has yet to confirm the budget for the project, experts have estimated China’s belt and road initiative will cost $8 trillion.
Following the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden said a committee would be formed to launch the infrastructure financing plan.
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“It represents a continuation of the Cold War mentality and bloc politics”.
Critics of Beijing have noted the nation’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and its increased military cooperation with Russia.
The spokesperson added that China’s military budget is “defensive in nature”.
China’s total military expenditure is around £148.4bn but is a fraction of the total sum of NATO’s allies which comes to around £795.3bn.
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