Jubilant China basks in Paul Keating’s latest fire spray with communist propagandist penning brilliant essay calling him ‘visionary’
- Beijing has praised Paul Keating’s criticism of NATO
- Keating called the alliance chief an “ultimate fool”
- His criticism is about NATO’s plan to expand in Asia.
Beijing has praised Paul Keating after the former prime minister criticized NATO and called the leader of the military alliance an “ultimate fool”.
China’s state-run newspaper The Global Times described Keating as a “visionary and insightful politician” after he lashed out at NATO over a plan to expand the alliance in the Asia-Pacific by setting up a liaison office in Tokyo, Japan. .
French President Emmanuel Macron opposed the move, saying he felt it was a “big mistake” that would fuel tensions between NATO and Beijing.
Keating criticized NATO chief Jans Stoltenberg, who met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Tuesday, over the proposal.
“Of all the people on the international stage, the ultimate fool among them is Jens Stoltenberg, the current NATO Secretary General,” Keating said.
Beijing praised Paul Keating (pictured) for his intense criticism of NATO and the alliance chief over a plan to expand into the Asia-Pacific.
‘Stoltenberg by instinct and by policy, is simply an accident on its way to happen.’
He added that the alliance chief “behaves more like an American agent than a European security leader and spokesman.”
The former Labor prime minister warned that the expansion would bring the “militarism of Europe” to Asia-Pacific that has been “driven by the United States”.
“Exporting that malicious poison to Asia would be like Asia welcoming the plague,” he said.
The Global Times ran a story that was highly critical of NATO and the plans outlined at the summit before applauding Keating’s scathing response.
“Keating is a visionary and insightful politician,” he said.
“We very much agree with your statement. No one has criticized NATO more accurately and vividly than Keating. His words reflect a consensus among Asian countries.’
“The transatlantic military alliance, which has been expanding and disrupting the security situation in Europe since the Cold War, is now extending its reach to the Asia-Pacific region.”
The communist party spokesman said the “ulterior motives” were “to incite division and hatred, create gang confrontations and cause chaos in Europe” and that the plan was designed “to disturb the peace in the Asia-Pacific region.” “.
“We strongly resist this, along with most countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.
China’s state newspaper ran a story that was highly critical of NATO before applauding Keating as a “visionary and insightful politician” (Chinese President Xi Jinping pictured)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with NATO chief Jans Stoltenberg at the alliance summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Tuesday.
Stoltenberg played down Keating’s criticism when meeting with Albanese and thanked him for Australia’s commitment to NATO and support for Ukraine.
The prime minister also distanced himself from the comments, describing Stoltenberg as a “friend” of Australia during an interview with ABC.
The leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea are attending the NATO summit despite not being NATO members, because Stoltenberg says Europe’s security “is not regional, it is global.”
