NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has issued a stark warning that a potential Chinese military action against Taiwan could provoke Russia to launch operations against NATO. He emphasized that Beijing and Moscow must be viewed as a single strategic entity in global security calculations.
“If China decides to take action against Taiwan, it is very likely that it will compel its smaller partner in this relationship—Russia under Vladimir Putin—to act against NATO, perhaps even to attack us,” Rutte stated during the 71st Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, held in Ljubljana.
According to Rutte, the tight coordination between Moscow and Beijing poses a shared threat to international security and must be addressed comprehensively.
Despite these concerns, Rutte stressed that the Alliance remains significantly stronger than Russia, urging calm and restraint in dealing with airspace violations or provocations.
“The Alliance is clearly much stronger than the Russians, so there’s no need to shoot down Russian aircraft that briefly violate member states’ airspace,” he added.
His remarks come amid growing global tension over China’s military maneuvers near Taiwan and Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine, prompting NATO to strengthen coordination with allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
