China accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of exaggerating the "threat from China" after leaders of the transatlantic alliance promised to work together to counter China's alleged "systemic challenges" to international peace and order.

According to a representative from China's Mission to the European Union, NATO's latest remarks represent "a continuation of the Cold War mentality and bloc politics."

The representative criticized NATO for "slandering China's peaceful development and misjudging the international situation - and its own role," The Defense Post said.

Leaders of the transatlantic organization convened in Brussels and released a joint statement denouncing China's nuclear arsenal including its cyberwarfare capabilities.

The Group of Seven criticized China for its treatment of the Uighur minority in its Xinjiang region and demanded an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.

China foreign ministry representative Zhao Lijian said the U.S. and Europe had "different interests," and some European nations won't "bind themselves to the anti-China war chariot of the U.S.," Reuters reported.

Military frictions have escalated over the past year between China and the U.S. and India - with flashpoints at Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Himalayan border, TDP said.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called on NATO leaders not to be intimidated by China's authoritarianism and growing military capabilities - a change of concentration for a coalition established to protect Europe from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

China's mission to the European Union said China was committed to a defense policy that was "defensive in nature" and called its pursuit of military modernization "justified, open and transparent," Al Jazeera reported.