Nato's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said that China's military budget is second in the world only to that of the US, and that China is rapidly building its military forces, including its navy, with advanced technologies. In a discussion of "multifaceted threats" and "systemic competition from assertive and authoritarian powers" early in the document, Nato says that "Russia's aggressive actions constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security. China is not called a threat, but Nato states that "China's growing influence and international policies can present challenges that we need to address together as an alliance. Nato promises to "engage China with a view to defending the security interests of the alliance. "Separately, Nato officials have said that China is increasingly using Arctic routes, has exercised its military with Russia, sent ships into the Mediterranean Sea and ahs been active in Africa. China is also working on space-based weaponary as well as artificial intelligence and sophisticated hacking of Western institutions. Much lower in the document, China comes up again, and is again described as presenting "Systemic challenges" this time to the rules-based international order. Nato also cities china's expanding nuclear arsenal and more sophisticated delivery system as well as its expanding navy and its military cooperation with Russia. In course of a press conference at the end of the G7 summit in the UK, President Biden revealed that a Chinese leader, when told that he (Biden) when elected president was going to "reestablish the strength of American relationships so we can be counted on again suggested Well, maybe you shouldn't get the Quad meaning India, Japan, Australia and US. But that is precisely what Biden has sought to accomplish.
