Nato head warns over risks of close economic ties with Russia and China

theguardian.com:

The head of Nato has issued a blunt warning of the security risks of close economic ties with Russia and China as he told business leaders in Davos thatvalues should matter more than profits.

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of the western military alliance, said countries would be making a mistake if they traded short-term economic gain for long-term security.

“Freedom is more important than free trade. The protection of our values is more important than profit,” Stoltenberg told the World Economic Forum.

The Nato head said globalisation had brought many economic benefits but the war in Ukraine had exposed how ties with authoritarian regimes created vulnerabilities.

Breaking down barriers in the pursuit of free trade had left Europe dependent on Russian oil and gas, involved the sharing of technology that risked the west losing its technological edge in modern weaponry and opened the door to foreign control of vital infrastructure such as 5G networks.

“If we share the technology we may earn the money but undermine western security,” Stoltenberg said. “This is about Russia but it is also about China.”

As a former prime minister of Norway, Stoltenberg said he had worked to create a more global economy. “But our economic choices have consequences for security,” he said.

“I am not arguing against trade with China but I am saying the control over 5G networks is of vital security importance,” he said.

“We cannot say that in the interest of profits and free trade we just open up those networks also for suppliers that actually are not reliable when it comes to our security,” Stoltenberg added.

The Nato secretary-general said the build up of western forces in eastern Europe was intended to deter Russia from further aggression and