European powers must not display weakness to President Xi Jinping of China and should “spell out the severe economic consequences” of invading Taiwan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO secretary-general, said in a speech in Taiwan this week.
“We have built a Europe based on security provided by the United States, cheap goods from China and cheap gas from Russia,” said Rasmussen, who led NATO from 2009 to 2014. “That model doesn’t work any longer. We should not repeat this mistake by being too weak, too accommodating when it comes to China.”