By Pei Yongzhen, Hu Jingyu
裴永桢 胡景瑜
It is reported that Italy recently deployed its aircraft carrier Cavour to the Pacific for the first time, and other NATO members such as France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands have successively pledged to send military vessels there too, indicating a strong signal of NATO's intention of meddling in the Asian Pacific affairs, which is bound to undermine regional security.
据报道，意大利日前首次将“加富尔”号航母部署至太平洋地区。法国、英国、德国、荷兰等北约成员国也相继表示，将向太平洋地区派遣军舰。多个北约成员国接连作出类似决定，释放出企图染指亚太事务的信号，对亚太地区安全形成冲击。
It's no news that NATO members have sent military vessels to the Asia Pacific in recent years, but never before have they moved on such a large scale with such concentration. "This is an inevitable move for NATO to achieve its 'globalization'," said Liu Qiang, director of the academic committee of Shanghai Centre for RimPac Strategic and International Studies. NATO began to poke its nose into Asia Pacific at the 2022 Madrid Summit when it declared that what's going on in the Asia Pacific will have a direct bearing on European-Atlantic security. Then it reaffirmed its policy position on the region at the Vilnius Summit last year. At the Washington Summit in July this year, it again hyped up tension in the region. NATO's series of moves clearly show that it is no longer content with staying in Europe, but is eager to expand globally with Asia Pacific as a strategic pivot.
近年来，北约成员国虽曾陆续派遣军舰到亚太地区，但此次多国决定派遣军舰，规模较之前更大，且有集结部署之势。上海环太国际战略研究中心学术委员会主任刘强称，“这其实是北约企图‘全球化’的一个必然举动。”从2022年马德里峰会，北约扬言亚太地区事态发展会直接影响欧洲-大西洋的安全，开始介入亚太事务，到去年维尔纽斯峰会，北约重申对亚太地区的政策立场，再到今年7月华盛顿峰会，肆意渲染亚太地区紧张局势，北约的种种行径表明，其野心早已不再局限于欧洲，而是向全球扩张，并将亚太地区作为战略扩张的重点。
"Italy made the head-start to have a louder voice in the bloc," said Xu Ruojie, an associate researcher at the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. According to Xu, Italy has the fourth largest economic aggregate in NATO after the UK, France and Germany, but it has consistently lacked discourse power due to its limited military contributions. Now Italy is actively responding to NATO's attempt at global expansion, setting an example for other members in making substantive military interference in the Asia Pacific, with a view to gaining itself a greater say within the organization in future operations.
“意大利率先采取行动，主要是想提升其在北约的话语权。”中国社会科学院欧洲研究所助理研究员徐若杰表示，在北约欧洲成员国中，意大利的经济体量仅次于英法德，位居第四，但因其长期对北约的军事贡献有限，始终缺乏话语权。在北约意图全球扩张的当下，意大利积极“响应号召”，为北约其他成员国对亚太地区采取实质性军事介入作出“表率”，以谋求未来能够在北约采取行动时有更多话语权。
As the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and Palestine-Israel conflict are likely to further escalate, the US, which is deeply involved in regional conflicts, is plagued by their spillover effects. "The Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have diverted America's attention," said Liu Qiang, who continued that the US, the brain of NATO, has been pushing its "Indo-Pacific strategy" and egging NATO members to project forces to the Asia Pacific in recent years. Now it is happy to leverage NATO's strengths to reinforce its weakening military clout in the region, and NATO's European members, given their continued "Russia-phobia", are willing to cater to the US in exchange for its support for European security and will take actions to lessen America's strain on resources, said Xu Ruojie.
当前，俄乌冲突、巴以冲突仍在延宕，并存在进一步升级外溢的风险，长期介入地区局势的美国，同样受困于冲突外溢影响之中。“美国对中东及俄乌冲突的投入，分散了其部分注意力。”刘强称，作为北约的主导者，美国近年来不断推进其“印太战略”，怂恿北约国家向亚太地区投射力量。如今能够借助北约力量，强化其自身在亚太被不断弱化的军事影响，美国必然乐见其成。而对一些北约欧洲成员国来说，“恐俄症”仍在持续蔓延，徐若杰指出，“北约欧洲成员国仍有以配合美国，来换取其对欧洲安全事务更多支持的现实利益需要。在此背景下，北约成员国也会积极采取行动，分担美国资源不足的压力。”
"The declaration of so many NATO members to dispatch military vessels to the Pacific mirrors their concern about being marginalized," said Xu. With Asia Pacific's growing status in the global political and economic system, NATO members' readiness to militarily meddle in the region is, on the one hand, to demonstrate their internal unity and cohesion and, on the other hand, to enhance their presence by getting involved in hotspot regional affairs.
“此次多国表示将向太平洋派遣军舰，也反映了欧洲国家担心自身国际地位被边缘化的心理。”徐若杰说，如今亚太地区在全球政治经济体系中的地位日益提升，北约成员国不断摆出军事介入亚太事务的姿态，一方面是为展示北约内部的团结，另一方面还表明其渴望通过介入热点地区事务而进一步“刷存在感”。
Interestingly, some analysts said a question mark should be put on whether those countries can really dispatch military vessels to the Pacific, as some of them may not be able to do that due to practical reasons such as insufficient defense expenditure. In response to this, Liu Qiang said, "NATO's expansionary tendency calls for high vigilance, whether it's just bluffing or will truly act on it."
值得注意的是，有分析人士指出，此次北约多国能否真正派遣军舰至太平洋地区尚存疑问，其中或有国家将因国防开支状况等现实原因，而不能最终实施。对此，刘强指出，“无论是虚张声势还是付诸行动，都应警惕北约的扩张倾向。”
NATO has constantly stretched its antenna to the Asia Pacific in recent years. It is approaching regional countries like ROK and Japan by peddling security anxieties and is continuously ramping up its force projections in the region in an attempt to shape the security situation here after its "bloc confrontation" thinking. Now several NATO members are planning to send military vessels to the Pacific, a move that will exacerbate the major-country strategic competition and security dilemma in the Asia-Pacific, further threaten its security order, and undermine regional peace and stability.
近来，北约将触手频频伸向亚太，通过贩卖安全焦虑等手段，拉拢韩日等亚太国家，并不断加大在亚太地区的力量投射，企图以“阵营对抗”思维塑造亚太安全局势。如今，北约多个成员国又决定派遣军舰至太平洋，显著推升亚太大国战略竞争烈度和安全困境程度，进一步威胁亚太安全秩序，破坏地区和平稳定。
Experts said that once NATO's strategic vision becomes a reality, peace and prosperity in the Asia Pacific will meet a catastrophic blow with mounting risks of conflicts. The Asian-Pacific region is an anchor of global development and stability and a highland of international cooperation. It is not a geopolitical chessboard. NATO members all dancing to America's tune with weapons in hand and the organization's accelerated steps of globalization with Asia Pacific as a pivot deserve high vigilance of all countries.
专家表示，一旦北约的战略预期最终成为现实，将严重冲击和平、繁荣的亚太地区秩序，爆发冲突的风险亦将随之增大。亚太地区是全球发展稳定之锚和合作高地，而不是地缘政治的棋局，北约各国随美起“武”，以亚太地区为重点不断加速的“全球化”步伐，应引起各国高度警惕。
