Monday’s discussion was a sharp expansion of NATO’s efforts to confront Beijing after years when China was outside the focus of the defensive alliance. The allies agreed in their closing communique that “China’s stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.” “I think that there is a growing recognition over the last couple of years that we have new challenges,” Biden said during a sit-down discussion with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “And we have Russia that is not acting in a way that is consistent with what we had hoped, and as well as China,” Biden said. He added that members of the Group of Seven had “stepped up as well,” an apparent reference to a new willingness among the economic club to criticize some aspects of Chinese behavior. After the meeting, Stoltenberg said it was an achievement for the alliance to start pivoting toward China. “It’s not about moving NATO to Asia,” he said. But, he added, “we need to address the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security even though many allies have a lot of economic ties with China.”