China may drag Russia into a war against NATO countries in order to distract the Alliance from events in the Asia-Pacific region.
If Beijing decides to attack Taiwan, it will most likely involve Russia in opening a new front in Europe.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated this in an interview with The New York Times.
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China May Use Russia to Divert Attention from Taiwan
Rutte stressed that the United States, while ensuring NATO's security on European territory, also protects its own interests in Asia.
The United States cannot feel secure if Europe, the Atlantic and the Arctic remain unprotected.
The Secretary General believes that Beijing could use Russia as a lever to distract the US in Europe in order to implement its own aggressive plans against Taiwan.
In his opinion, Western allies should not be “naive on this issue.”
“If Xi Jinping were to attack Taiwan, he would first call his junior partner in all this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who lives in Moscow, and say to him: Hey, I’m going to do this, and I need you to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory,” he explained.
According to Rutte, this is one of the most realistic scenarios for the future. He noted that there are two main ways to contain possible aggression from China and Russia.
The first is to make an attack on NATO so disastrous for the Kremlin that Moscow would never risk implementing such a plan.
— And secondly, to cooperate with the Indo-Pacific region — something that President Trump is very actively promoting. Because we have a close relationship, joint work in the defense industry, innovation between NATO and the Indo-Pacific region, — the Secretary General added.
China increasingly supports Russia
Recently, China has become more active in demonstrating support for Moscow, although it previously took a formally neutral position.
During negotiations with EU representatives, Beijing made it clear that it would not allow Russia to lose and Ukraine to win.
According to experts, Russia is not only a convenient tool for China to put pressure on the West, but also an important source of resources.
China continues to import large volumes of Russian oil and gas, and Russia has recently sharply increased its exports of metals to China.
