AMSTERDAM—As NATO leaders gathered in the Netherlands this week to unveil a historic pledge to ramp up defense spending, Beijing was watching nervously from the other side of the world.
The Chinese Communist regime issued a flurry of statements, accusing NATO of “stoking confrontation” and questioning the alliance’s intentions.
At this year’s summit, NATO allies agreed to dramatically increase their defense spending targets to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a significant increase from the 2 percent benchmark set during a summit in Wales in 2014.
During the summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sounded the alarm over Beijing’s support for Russia, its accelerating military buildup, and the rising threat of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan....
