Kaya Kallas / Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
Europe and Asia must increase cooperation in the face of common threats from China and Russia to protect the global rules-based order.
This was stated by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas during the annual Shangri-La Defence Summit in Singapore, Bloomberg reports.
“This is the greatest challenge of our time. When China and Russia talk about making changes together that haven’t happened in a hundred years, we should all be extremely concerned,” Callas said.
She directly accused China of assisting the Russian war machine, saying that 80% of the dual-use goods used by Russia in the war against Ukraine come from China.
In the context of the US Secretary of Defence’s warning about the growing threat of China, Callas added:
“If you’re worried about China, you should be worried about Russia.”
She stressed that both states are involved in cyberattacks, sabotage and threats to infrastructure, including submarine cables, and called for a review of maritime security laws and a fight against the “shadow fleet” that allows them to evade sanctions.
