BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- NATO should have called it quits and disbanded following the end of the Cold War. Instead, it chose to search for a bogeyman to justify its existence.

No wonder the U.S.-led military bloc's new strategy is directed at a so-called "China threat." The organization alleges that China poses "systemic challenges," which completely distorts Beijing's foreign policy and misrepresents the country's normal military and defense development.

NATO's broadside against China is as untenable as it is ideologically biased.

The Chinese have always been a peace-loving people and staunch advocate of harmony and coexistence. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country has never started a war, never occupied one inch of foreign land, never engaged in proxy wars and never participated in or organized any military bloc.

China remains the only country in the world that has enshrined a path of peaceful development in its constitution.

Meanwhile, China has contributed to resolving hotspot issues and promoting global peace. It has become the second-largest contributor to the United Nations' regular budget and peacekeeping operations.

Earlier this year, China proposed the Global Security Initiative, offering solutions to pressing security issues.

Moreover, China's development presents an opportunity for the world, not a challenge. In China's view, development holds the key to solving many of the world's daunting problems. That is why it has pushed forward the joint construction of the Belt and Road and proposed the Global Development Initiative to expand global consensus on building a better world for all.

According to a World Bank forecast, if all Belt and Road transport infrastructure projects are carried out, the initiative would generate 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars of global revenues annually to 2030. Up to 90 percent of the revenues would go to partner countries.

The world need not fear China. It is NATO itself that poses a grave threat to global peace and stability. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Libya to Syria, the military adventures waged by NATO have claimed countless lives and displaced millions.

Even more worryingly, the United States, the military alliance's de facto leader, has attempted to expand the outdated bloc. NATO's rounds of expansion eastward have plunged Europe into crisis. Now the eyes of the clique have turned to the Asia-Pacific.

As Gilbert Achcar, a professor at the University of London, warned, "NATO has always been used by the United States as a tool to perpetuate its hegemony," and "the United States is trying to push Europe to take part in its own policies, including in East Asia."

As one of the world's most peaceful and stable regions, the Asia-Pacific is a promising land for cooperation and development. Any attempt to undermine its peace and stability and sabotage regional solidarity and collaboration will be unanimously rejected by the people of China and the region. NATO must know that hyping up its "China threat" will lead nowhere.

In this era of unprecedented global interdependence, it is foolish to seek security for oneself at the expense of others. One can only be safe when all are safe.

NATO should call off its groundless accusations and provocations against China, abandon an outdated zero-sum Cold War mentality, renounce its blind faith in military might and join the rest of the world in a collective pursuit of a shared and better future. That is how NATO should redefine its mission in the new age. Enditem

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