Norwegian and world business should not make themselves vulnerable by becoming too dependent on trade with China, warned NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, referencing Europe’s “mistake” of relying heavily on Russian gas.
Stoltenberg, who is also the former Norwegian prime minister, has been invited to Norway’s Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO, Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon), a major annual conference in Oslo on 5 January, where he will discuss how to trade with authoritarian countries can threaten the security of countries and companies.
“Free trade cannot trump freedom, and commercial considerations cannot trump considerations for our country’s security,” Stoltenberg told VG on Thursday, adding that the war in Ukraine highlighted Europe’s vulnerability in that regard.
“A lesson learned from the war in Ukraine is that it is dangerous to make oneself financially vulnerable in relation to Russia. They cut gas exports to achieve political goals, a painful weapon that has contributed to the energy crisis and high prices in Europe,” the secretary general said.
But beyond the clear references to Russia, Stoltenberg aimed at China, which for the first time was labelled as a ‘threat’ in NATO’s long-term planning document updated this summer.
Beijing’s “stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values”, the alliance’s Strategic Concept declared.
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“We are soon entering a gloomy year with the full-on war in Europe and with China challenging us in many ways. I want to tell the NHO’s annual conference how important it is to have strong institutions like NATO in these troubled times,” Stoltenberg said, wishing to avoid “past mistakes” Europe made in the energy field with Moscow.
“We must not repeat that mistake towards China,” he said, warning against “dependence on goods such as rare minerals, or that they are allowed to control infrastructure such as the 5G network, or that we share technology that undermines our own security.”
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Stoltenberg, however, insisted that he did not want to isolate China economically, but instead called for more “overall considerations when you engage economically with authoritarian countries such as China and Russia,” adding that not doing business with China would be “wrong”.
(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
