“HONG KONG -- China has seized upon the disarray left by President Trump within the trans-Atlantic alliance, denouncing his push to acquire Greenland and trying to entice U.S. allies with the promise of reliable trade partnerships.
But as some of Washington's traditional allies tiptoe closer to Beijing, they appear clear-eyed about the danger of leaving the U.S. embrace only to end up in the hands of another superpower.
"In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice -- compete with each other for favor, or to combine to create a third path with impact," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Carney, who came away from meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently with a diplomatic thaw and a trade deal, said Canada, as a "middle power," plans to be "principled and pragmatic" in its partnerships.
"What we can see in the middle powers is hedging," said Maria Adele Carrai, an associate professor at the University of Oxford. "They're not aligning with China, but opening new dialogues, new alliances, new regional partnerships."
As Trump makes aggressive use of tariffs and at one point threatened force to prize Greenland from longstanding ally Denmark, Beijing is trying to seize the moment. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng delivered a speech at Davos this past week denouncing "rising unilateralism and protectionism" while portraying China as a benefit to the world. "China's development presents an opportunity, not a threat, to the world economy."
China hopes to improve its relationships with key trading partners for tangible gains, such as reducing tariffs on electrical vehicles, but "it is only a cautious optimism," said Olivia Cheung, a China scholar at King's College London,
The improvements largely have been marked by an easing of trade barriers, such as the new framework between China and Canada that includes slashing tariffs on Chinese EVs and Canadian canola oil.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer heads to Beijing this month, shortly after the approval of a large new Chinese Embassy in London smoothed tensions between the countries. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to travel to China next month. French President Emmanuel Macron visited in December.
Fundamental differences also remain between U.S. allies and China over issues including Beijing's support for Russia's Vladimir Putin.
The European Commission has introduced plans to phase out telecommunications hardware in critical European networks from "high-risk" suppliers, a move seen as targeting Chinese telecom companies including Huawei and ZTE. Beijing has criticized those plans, saying Chinese telecommunications equipment has never endangered security and that its exclusion would cause economic harm to both sides.
China has denounced Trump's designs on Greenland and the U.S. mission to seize Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as evidence of an American imperialistic streak that is no longer concealed by talk of a rules-based order.
The U.S. is now a "purely extractive superpower," Xinhua, the Chinese state-news agency, said Tuesday. "The world map is no longer a political chart of alliances and sovereignties, but a crude inventory of assets."
Even as China's ties with much of the world deepen, its ability to ease relations with Europe is relatively limited, said Zhu Feng, a professor of international studies at Nanjing University.
Beijing doesn't expect the U.S. and its European allies to undergo a permanent split, he said. Trump's shift on Greenland this past week in Davos, where he retreated from threats of force and tariffs and moved toward a proposal that includes offers of increased Arctic security, limits the potential for a collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It also restricts China's potential trade and diplomatic gains in Europe, said David Arase, a professor of international politics at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.” [1]
1. World News: Beijing Angles for Deals With U.S. Allies --- China sees opening in Trump's rift with Europe, but it faces some skepticism. Austin Ramzy. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 24 Jan 2026: A6.
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