On 23rd February 2023, under the auspices of the NATO Cooperative Security Division, NATO hosted the seventh iteration of its military staff talks with China, at NATO HQ in Brussels.
The Chinese delegation, led by Major General Yao Qin, met with the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS), Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak and the Director of the IMS Cooperative Security Division, Lieutenant General Francesco Diella.
Lieutenant General Adamczak noted that using this forum for regular dialogue can be mutually beneficial. "NATO is a defensive Alliance," he stressed. "Our new Strategic Concept makes clear that China's stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values, but that we remain open to constructive engagement, including to build reciprocal transparency, with a view to safeguarding the Alliance's security interests," he added.
Topics raised at the meeting included: the global security situation, with special emphasis on Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, maritime security; NATO's new Strategic Concept and China's military modernisation.
Lieutenant General Diella recalled NATO's military interaction with China in the form of military-to-military staff talks follows clear political guidance, and has been constant since 2010, with annual meetings. This dialogue was interrupted in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has now resumed, under the pre-agreed annual format, between NATO and Chinese military officials.
