MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. NATO’s eastward expansion will add to the tensions in the region and may provoke a new cold war, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with TASS.

"NATO’s expansion to the east, to the Asia Pacific region will only increase regional tension, add to the crisis of confidence, spur an arms race, spoil the atmosphere of regional cooperation, provoke confrontation between the camps and even a new cold war," he said.

He noted that today "countries are interrelated and integrated into a community of the shared destiny." "Openness, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation are the only right choice. The Cold War mentality and the confrontation between the camps run counter to the calls of today," he stressed.

According to the Chinese ambassador, NATO’s movement to the Asia Pacific region "meets no support," with the international community being against it. "Voices of the opposition are heard even among NATO members," Zhang said, recalling that "French President Emmanuel Macron publicly spoke against establishing a NATO liaison office in Japan, stressing that the alliance’s charter clearly defines its geographical frames of the North Atlantics, with Japan being outside them."