As America Is Losing Friends, China Is Courting Them

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) ahead of a bilateral meeting during his visit to China, on January 29, 2026 in Beijing, China. Photo by Carl Court/Getty ImagesWATCHING THE NATO SUMMIT IN ANKARA last week, I found that one question kept returning to me: What was China seeing? What were analysts inside the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army writing in their assessments? What conclusions were they drawing as they watched the leaders of the world’s most powerful military alliance gather?Having spent much of a career reading intelligence assessments of other countries, it wasn’t difficult imagining the report circulating in Beijing. They would certainly acknowledge NATO’s extraordinary military power, increased European defense spendin