China rebukes NATO for singling out Beijing in latest security threat guide

June 30 (UPI) -- China's Mission to the European Union rebuked NATO for singling out China for the first time in its latest Strategic Concept, which provides the Western military alliance a 10-year guide to respond to security threats and challenges.

In the Strategic Concept, which leaders agreed to at the 30-country alliance's summit in Madrid on Wednesday, NATO singled out "systemic challenges posed by the People's Republic of China to Euro-Atlantic security."

Some of the challenges from the PRC that NATO listed in the 10-year strategic blueprint, were conducting "malicious hybrid and cyber operations," disinformation campaigns, efforts to control supply chains, and a "deepening strategic partnership" with the Russian federation.

At a media briefing Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg added "China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents."

China's Mission to the European Union, which is committed to advancing China-EU relations, according to head ambassador, Zhang Ming, said in a statement that NATO was "maliciously attacking and smearing China," with its comments on the country in the Strategic Concept.

"NATO is a Cold War remnant and the world's largest military alliance," China's Mission to the EU said in the statement. "Thirty years after the end of the Cold War, it has not yet abandoned its thinking and practice of creating 'enemies' and engaging in bloc confrontation.

"The Strategic Concept claims that other countries pose challenges, but it is NATO that is creating problems around the world. NATO claims itself to be a defensive organization that upholds the rules-based international order, but it has bypassed the U.N. Security Council and waged wars against sovereign states, creating huge casualties and leaving tens of millions displaced."