NATO leaders meeting in Brussels today were eager to paint China as a threat but, at the same time, not an enemy to the US-led military alliance of 30 countries.

Speaking before the summit, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters: “We are not entering a new cold war and China is not our adversary, not our enemy.

“But we need to address together as an alliance the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security.”