and for the second time, asian nations were represented at the nato summit. the leaders ofjapan, south korea, australia and new zealand all participated in the gathering. with me now is ambassadorj peter pham, distinguished fellow with the atlantic council s africa centre. and mirna galic, senior policy analyst, china and east asia at the united states institute of peace. thank you so much forjoining us for what been an interesting week. we want to start with you, we had a garage. the four leaders of the asia pacific were at the summit, japan, australia and new zealand. when hoping to achieve? idat australia and new zealand. when hoping to achieve? hoping to achieve? not it interesting hoping to achieve? not it interesting because - hoping to achieve? not it l interesting because they ve hoping to achieve? not it - interesting because they ve had relations with nato for a number of years back to the 2000 that list and originally some impetus for these countries wanted relations with
nation with which individual african countries may have the most debt or most individual trade but very closely behind and cumulatively, the united states, canada and europe and certainly, our alliesjapan, south korea, and others are very closely behind. mirna, 20 seconds, similar situation in asia? similar. china is the biggest trading partner of all four of nato s indo pacific partner countries and so i think they are also conscious of the need to maintain economic relations but i think at the same time, they are doing some de risking of their own in terms of making sure their trade is more diversified and trying to balance that relationship with the security side. mirna galic, senior policy analyst, china and east asia. ambassadorj peter pham, distinguished fellow at the atlantic council s africa center. thank you so much to you, both. that brings us to the end of this bbc nato special. we want to leave you with some images from vilnius, a meeting that made more headlines than most.
he failed in that goal, as the president said this week. he continues, however, to rain death and destruction upon ukraine so i don t think we need to listen to lectures from vladimir putin about what will increase the security of ukraine. we know what will increase the security of ukraine and that s making sure they have what they need to defend themselves in the short term and deter russian aggression in the long term. matt miller from the us state department. now, nato itself may have involved only around 30 specific nations but this gathering was watched by nations around the globe because what happens in vilnius doesn t necessarily stay in vilnius. the impact of the summit on the war in ukraine will be watched by leaders in africa. many nations there have remained steadfastly neutral in the conflict. and for the second time, asian nations were represented at the nato summit the leaders ofjapan, south korea, australia and new zealand all participated in the gathering. earlier, i
of counter piracy organisations between 2008 and 2016 in the indian ocean, nato has had these partners for many years in the region, as i ve mentioned, so nato s presence not presence because nato is not physically present but nato s engagement in the region has long preceded nato s focus on china, so i think it is important to point that out. now, china is unhappy, ithink, in many parts because china is unhappy about the strengthening of us alliances in general both us alliances in the region with us partners there and us alliances elsewhere because china sees this as inherently sort of anti china, so that s where a lot of china s distaste for what s happening between nato and these partners come from. let s talk about africa now, and ambassador pham, i want to turn to you. nato has partnered with the african union for two almost decades now but there are many african nations that have remained neutral in the conflict. why is that and just talk, again, about the relationship nat
there countries of nato. for example, there are countries of nato. for example, there are africa the biggest trader there are africa the biggest trader bloc is western europe and the trader bloc is western europe and the united states. china may and the united states. china may be and the united states. china may be the individual nation with may be the individual nation with which individual african countries may have the most debt countries may have the most debt or countries may have the most debt or most individual trade but very debt or most individual trade but very closely behind and cumulatively the united states, canada. cumulatively the united states, canada, and in europe and certainly canada, and in europe and certainly our allies, japan, south certainly our allies, japan, south korea, and others are very south korea, and others are very closely behind.- south korea, and others are very closely behind. mirna, 20 seconds. very closely behind. mirna, 20