NATO China a Threat

[Macski]

Usual apology if this has been covered...

NATO have declared China to be a threat to the West, but isn't the West financing China's military with there trade.

Trying to buy a health fryer at the moment that isn't made in China, impossible?

[Macski]

Halb said:

NATO pretty desperate to find a baddie?

You claiming China is not a threat, just take a look at the island there are building in the South China sea and the purpose it will be used for. They threaten passing planes and ships even though the island is in international waters.

Russia too is still a threat claiming huge parts of the Artic as its territory

[Macski]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Because it is made for a purpose which no longer exists and an age which has passed.

It made absolute sense during the cold war to say an attack on one is an attack on all, and to box in Soviet expansionism by extending this as far as possible.

It is now totally inappropriate, because we don't have an expansionist Soviet Union. If Russia had retaliated when Turkey downed one of its fighters a couple of years ago we would have been obliged to side with Erdogan against the Russian operation to defeat ISIS. Whatever you think of Putin this would have been absolutely insane.

It also creates a moral hazard which could and probably did embolden Erdogan to needle Russia knowing that Putin would be less likely to retaliate.

In the absence of a hostile, expansionist adversary the decision to go to war should be done very carefully on the merits of each case not automatically.

In reality this probably would happen anyway before we got to the stage of all out war with Russia (or anyone else for that matter.) But the fact that this commitment exists creates a problem IMO.

Russian did not retaliate to Turkeys downing of the fighter exactly because Turkey is in Nato, a far stronger force then the Russian military.

Also when Russia invaded Ukraine they did so by sending fighters and weapons not computer hackers. How confidant are you that if it was not for NATO Russia would be flexing its mussel far more then it is now, after all it is a country that seems willing to send assasins to poisen people.