#Sen. Cotton blasts Biden, NATO over statement that goes soft on China

President Biden has not done enough to make America’s allies recognize the threat from China, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Fox News Monday night.

“Russia is a threat, [but] China is the threat to the United States and to the free world, and our European allies need to recognize that threat China poses,” Cotton told “The Ingraham Angle” hours after Biden took part in the NATO Summit in Brussels as he continues his European tour.

Following the summit, NATO put out a communique that mentioned Russia 61 times, but only mentioned China 10 times. In the statement, the alliance said “Russia’s aggressive actions constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security” and “[u]ntil Russia demonstrates compliance with international law and its international obligations and responsibilities, there can be no return to ‘business as usual.’”

On the other hand, NATO said it “maintains a constructive dialogue with China where possible” and “we welcome opportunities to engage with China on areas of relevance to the Alliance and on common challenges such as climate change … Reciprocal transparency and understanding would benefit both NATO and China.”

Cotton blamed outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “watering down these communiques from NATO and the G7 because she wants to sell more BMWs and Volkswagens” to the Chinese market.

“All these European leaders want Chinese money to continue to come flooding into their countries, all at the risk of our shared common security,” Cotton continued, “and Joe Biden simply did not push hard enough for our European allies to recognize China as the leading threat that we face and that the free world faces.”

Biden is set to conclude his European trip by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday. The NATO statement expressed concern about military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, “including through [Chinese] participation in Russian exercises in the Euro-Atlantic area.”

“The very fact that you had Vladimir Putin, earlier this year, massing forces outside Ukraine and Xi Jinping continuing to enter Taiwanese airspace, I think suggests that both of these dictators have taken the measure of Joe Biden and they’ve found him wanting,” Cotton said, “and they think they can push the United States around, and some of the rhetoric coming out of the G7 and the NATO meeting, unfortunately, seems to confirm that impression.”