China, NATO to Enter into Strategic Talks Next Year

China will hold a strategic dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) next year in a dramatic turn in military relations with its erstwhile western adversaries.

According to Chinese media`s reports on Nov. 25, Gwanchung Wian, Chinese ambassador to Belgium, proposed to NATO secretary general George Robertson on the 10th that the two sides ˝hold a strategic dialogue regularly beginning next year to discuss such key issues as terrorism and security in Central Asia.˝

In response, the western alliance welcomed the move as ˝refreshing proposal reflecting China`s mature stance on global security.˝

The two sides reportedly discussed the plan for the dialogue on the sidelines of NATO summit held in Prague, Czech Republic on Nov. 22 and 23.

China`s softened gesture towards what it once considered western exploiters comes as the country goes through major changes both at home and abroad.

The foremost reason seems to be NATO`s expansion eastward. In the wake of Sept. 11, NATO is seeking to build a broader global security alliance against a new threat of terrorism while continuing to recruit former Soviet nations on the east side.

NATO, which was initially launched as a collective defense mechanism to protect its member states from aggression, adopted a new strategic concept at the time of the 1999 Kosovo War that it can act upon its own discretion without seeking an approval from Europe and beyond the European border to preserve freedom and human rights.

China, on its part, has realized the need to ride on the anti-terrorism trend. As it already defined Islamic separatists in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as a terrorist group, acknowledgement from and cooperation with the U.S.-led western alliance is now seen essential.

NATO, in particular, already embraced Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as dialogue partners under its 1994 `Partnership for Peace` outreach program, and granted a quasi-membership to Russia early this year, expanding its reach to the borders with China.

China`s foremost concern is that it might be left besieged by NATO on the west and the U.S.-Japanese alliance on the east. To stave off such an embattled situation, therefore, China is seeking to open a dialogue with NATO while beefing up its relations with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Central Asia.

Underlying the latest move is also its aim to put a break on U.S. hegemonic pursuit by building a bilateral or multilateral relationship with western European countries, which have halfheartedly been following the lead by the U.S.

yshwang@donga.com