A senior NATO official confronted a Chinese diplomat over China’s failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, injecting tension over the war into an international conference about the Arctic.
The unusually frank exchange between Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the alliance’s Military Committee, and He Rulong, China’s ambassador to Iceland, followed a speech by Bauer on NATO’s role in the region at the annual Arctic Circle Assembly.
Bauer, a Dutch Navy officer, said China “doesn’t share our values and undermines the rules-based international order.” The Chinese envoy spoke up from the audience to challenge Bauer, saying “Admiral, with due respect, your speech and remarks is filled with arrogance.”
