NATO chided over remarks about China

China strongly criticized NATO on Thursday for using Beijing as a pretext to expand its influence into the Asia-Pacific, accusing the alliance of provoking conflict and acting like a "war machine".

Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang made the remarks during a regular news conference in Beijing, in response to recent comments by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ahead of the alliance's summit in The Hague, Netherlands.

Rutte accused China of providing key support to Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine and voiced concern over Beijing's military buildup, including its expansion of its navy, which has the same number of ships as the United States Navy, and its growing nuclear arsenal.

Zhang rejected the claims, saying China remains committed to peaceful development and a national defense policy that is defensive in nature.

"China's military development is purely aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests," Zhang said. "China-Russia cooperation does not target any third party, nor will it be interfered with by any third party."

He sharply criticized NATO's role in international conflicts, saying the alliance has long stirred up trouble across regions.

"NATO is a product of the Cold War and the largest military bloc in the world. It provokes conflicts and wars, making itself a true war machine," he said.

At his own briefing earlier this week, Rutte emphasized NATO's close ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. He said those nations are "very, very worried" about the massive military build-up that is taking place in China.

However, the leaders of those countries — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — canceled their plans to attend the NATO summit.

Zhang said NATO has overstepped its own treaty's geographic scope in recent years, and that its expansion of power and influence has triggered alarm in the region.

"We firmly oppose NATO using China as an excuse to expand eastward into the Asia-Pacific region," he said. "We urge NATO to reflect on its own behaviors, change course and contribute more to global security and stability."