US Secretary of Defense Austin just stated in his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue that they "do not seek a new Cold War, do not seek an Asian version of NATO, and do not seek group confrontation". As these words were spoken, the four Asia-Pacific countries of Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand appeared, for the first time, on the list of participants for the upcoming NATO summit. For such words and deeds, even the US "Times" has bluntly stated that the risky move beyond NATO's purview will fuel global tensions.

Reactivated from a "brain-dead" state by virtue of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, NATO has an even greater ambition to expand. On June 22, after declaring that NATO's new "Strategic Concept" document would state its position on China for the first time, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg once again hyped the China issue, claiming that NATO must be aware of the "rise of China", and that the 'security implications of China' will be discussed at the NATO summit.

Some observers pointed out that NATO once regarded China as an "opportunity", but under the guidance of the "boss" the United States, the word "opportunity" was replaced by "challenge". By attracting the four "partners" of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to participate in the summit, NATO obviously wants to lay the foundation for its eastward expansion in the Asia-Pacific region in the name of the so-called "China Challenge". Of course, by doing so, NATO will eventually serve as a cat’s paw  for the US.

In June 2021, when US President Biden visited Europe for the first time, he announced in a high-profile manner that "the United States is back" to show that the United States will refocus on Europe and restore relations with European allies. In February this year, the United States launched a new "Indo-Pacific Strategy", trying to consolidate the United States' strategic advantage in the Asia-Pacific region through the circle of allies and reshape the United States' global hegemony.

The four Asia-Pacific countries invited to the NATO summit this time are the important anchors for the United States to implement the "Indo-Pacific strategy". Japan and South Korea have always been loyal allies of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, and Australia is even more committed to acting as an anti-China "vanguard". It is not only a member of the "Quartet Mechanism", but also successfully joined the "AUKUS" nuclear-powered submarine alliance of the Anglo-Saxon family. New Zealand is also a member of the US-led Five Eyes alliance.

From this point of view, rather than saying that NATO wants to win over Asia-Pacific countries to expand eastward, it is better to say that the United States uses NATO to create another "Asia-Pacific Axial Circle". Some observers pointed out that "the irony is that the United States has actually caused a problem for NATO members, because most of them are European countries that maintain friendly relations with China."

According to Eurostat, China overtook the United States to become EU's largest trading partner between 2020 and 2021. In January and February this year, EU once surpassed ASEAN to become China's largest trading partner. Economist Intelligence Unit expert Nick Marro believes that no matter how European policymakers try to diversify, China-EU business ties will be difficult to break.

In fact, it is not only the United States that has set up a stage through NATO, but also the equally ambitious Japan. According to Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" report on the 20th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is discussing holding four-nation summit talks with South Korea, Australia and New Zealand during the NATO summit, in the hope of securing multilateral cooperation and promoting the concept of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" against China.

Some analysts pointed out that Japan took the opportunity to hold small meetings, and even drew a "small circle" outside the US domination, in order to highlight its presence and reshape its political and military status by paving the way for NATO to enter Asia.

As Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, as a military organization in the North Atlantic region, NATO reaches out to the Asia-Pacific, and tries to replicate the European "group confrontation" routine to the Asia-Pacific, which will inevitably arouse the high vigilance and firm opposition from Asia-Pacific countries and the international community. Just after South Korean President Yoon Seok-Youl said that he would participate in the NATO summit, South Koreans rallied near the South Korean presidential palace to protest against Yoon Seok-Youl's assistance in NATO's expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, believing that this would threaten the security of the Korean peninsula.

This summit, with its own intrigue, has already been unpopular before it begins, and naturally it is unlikely to end well.