(Jan 31): NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin began separate visits to Asia recently, leaving Chinese analysts concerned about the strategic purpose of these visits, Global Times said.

They believed that the US and NATO are trying to bring to Asia the "bloc-to-bloc confrontation", which has already led to military conflicts in Europe, and warned that the US intends to use its allies in the region to contain China and disrupt regional integration and economic recovery by spreading their dangerous "Cold War mentality", it wrote.  

Stoltenberg, who is visiting South Korea and will also visit Japan on this trip, said at an event in Seoul on Monday that although China is not NATO's adversary, it has come "much higher" on NATO's agenda, citing China's growing military capabilities and "coercive behaviour in the region", Reuters reported.