MUNICH — Germany is firmly on the side of Washington in the resurgent rivalry between the United States and China, Berlin’s top defense official declared Friday, adding that Americans saw the return of "great power competition" before Europeans did.

“We are not neutral,” German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen told the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering that this year will see more than 35 heads of state and government and 80 defense and foreign ministers in attendance. “We side with freedom, we side with human dignity, we side with democracy and the rule of law.”

Western officials regard Russia and China with growing alarm, and the U.S. in particular has kept a wary eye on Chinese bids for soft power in Europe and around the world. Russia draws much of the international attention as a threat to Europe, especially since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine, but von der Leyen suggested that NATO members also need to confront China’s nonmilitary incursions into the continent.

“NATO is more than just a military alliance,” she said through a translator. “It is a political alliance. And as a political alliance, we are faced with what is a prominent feature of the new security feature, the return of great power competition. Our American friends recognized that early on and we too understand this now.”

Her comments reinforced Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warning, carried throughout central Europe the past several days, that China seeks “to erode freedom” in the region. “Russia and China are authoritarian powers who do not share our joint aspirations of freedom,” he said while visiting Budapest. Pompeo linked that general charge to a specific worry about Europe's increasing use of technology and equipment from Chinese telecommunications giants, companies regarded by U.S. officials as avatars of Beijing’s spy services.

Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe, has significant business ties with China, and Hungary invoked those relationships in rebuffing Pompeo's criticism of the country’s posture toward Beijing.

“If you look at that Chinese company which is very often in the news nowadays regarding telecommunication, are they present in Hungary?” Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said to reporters, referring to Huawei, whose equipment President Trump is considering banning from U.S. networks via executive order. “Yes. Who are their major contractors? A German and a British company. So when it comes to China, I think hypocrisy should be left finally behind.”

Pompeo warned Hungary that “Beijing’s handshake sometimes comes with strings,” a position von der Leyen echoed in Munich: "In NATO and the EU, we seek true, real partnership. Our partnership is not built on domination. It does not create political or economic dependencies. Our partnership makes us stronger and it increases our sovereignty, because, in our partnership, interests are consistent with our values."