China’s fears of an Indo-Pacific Nato are more myth than reality

Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressing a news conference via video link on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 7, 2022. - Reuters

BEIJING (Bloomberg): China’s concern that the US is seeking to build an "Indo-Pacific version of Nato” has one major problem: A previous effort failed in the 1970s, and most Asian countries haven’t been interested in trying again.

China Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised eyebrows on Monday (March 7) when he accused the US of looking to form a Nato-style military alliance "to maintain the US-led system of hegemony.” The charge echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for invading Ukraine, raising questions about whether Beijing may one day take similar preemptive military action in the region.