By Pei Yongzhen, Hu Jingyu

裴永楨 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.

據報道，意大利日前首次將“加富爾”號航母部署至太平洋地區。法國、英國、德國、荷蘭等北約成員國也相繼表示，將向太平洋地區派遣軍艦。多個北約成員國接連作出類似決定，釋放出企圖染指亞太事務的信號，對亞太地區安全形成沖擊。

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.

近年來，北約成員國雖曾陸續派遣軍艦到亞太地區，但此次多國決定派遣軍艦，規模較之前更大，且有集結部署之勢。上海環太國際戰略研究中心學術委員會主任劉強稱，“這其實是北約企圖‘全球化’的一個必然舉動。”從2022年馬德里峰會，北約揚言亞太地區事態發展會直接影響歐洲-大西洋的安全，開始介入亞太事務，到去年維爾紐斯峰會，北約重申對亞太地區的政策立場，再到今年7月華盛頓峰會，肆意渲染亞太地區緊張局勢，北約的種種行徑表明，其野心早已不再局限于歐洲，而是向全球擴張，并將亞太地區作為戰略擴張的重點。

"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.

“意大利率先采取行動，主要是想提升其在北約的話語權。”中國社會科學院歐洲研究所助理研究員徐若杰表示，在北約歐洲成員國中，意大利的經濟體量僅次于英法德，位居第四，但因其長期對北約的軍事貢獻有限，始終缺乏話語權。在北約意圖全球擴張的當下，意大利積極“響應號召”，為北約其他成員國對亞太地區采取實質性軍事介入作出“表率”，以謀求未來能夠在北約采取行動時有更多話語權。

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.

當前，俄烏沖突、巴以沖突仍在延宕，并存在進一步升級外溢的風險，長期介入地區局勢的美國，同樣受困于沖突外溢影響之中。“美國對中東及俄烏沖突的投入，分散了其部分注意力。”劉強稱，作為北約的主導者，美國近年來不斷推進其“印太戰略”，慫恿北約國家向亞太地區投射力量。如今能夠借助北約力量，強化其自身在亞太被不斷弱化的軍事影響，美國必然樂見其成。而對一些北約歐洲成員國來說，“恐俄癥”仍在持續蔓延，徐若杰指出，“北約歐洲成員國仍有以配合美國，來換取其對歐洲安全事務更多支持的現實利益需要。在此背景下，北約成員國也會積極采取行動，分擔美國資源不足的壓力。”

"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.

“此次多國表示將向太平洋派遣軍艦，也反映了歐洲國家擔心自身國際地位被邊緣化的心理。”徐若杰說，如今亞太地區在全球政治經濟體系中的地位日益提升，北約成員國不斷擺出軍事介入亞太事務的姿態，一方面是為展示北約內部的團結，另一方面還表明其渴望通過介入熱點地區事務而進一步“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，此次北約多國能否真正派遣軍艦至太平洋地區尚存疑問，其中或有國家將因國防開支狀況等現實原因，而不能最終實施。對此，劉強指出，“無論是虛張聲勢還是付諸行動，都應警惕北約的擴張傾向。”

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.

近來，北約將觸手頻頻伸向亞太，通過販賣安全焦慮等手段，拉攏韓日等亞太國家，并不斷加大在亞太地區的力量投射，企圖以“陣營對抗”思維塑造亞太安全局勢。如今，北約多個成員國又決定派遣軍艦至太平洋，顯著推升亞太大國戰略競爭烈度和安全困境程度，進一步威脅亞太安全秩序，破壞地區和平穩定。

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.

專家表示，一旦北約的戰略預期最終成為現實，將嚴重沖擊和平、繁榮的亞太地區秩序，爆發沖突的風險亦將隨之增大。亞太地區是全球發展穩定之錨和合作高地，而不是地緣政治的棋局，北約各國隨美起“武”，以亞太地區為重點不斷加速的“全球化”步伐，應引起各國高度警惕。