File photo: US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Chinese analysts and officials do not believe the US would target Xi in the same way it did with Khamenei, given China’s status as a nuclear power. But Trump’s embrace of war as a tool to assert American dominance has nonetheless reaffirmed Beijing’s view that the United States remains China’s most enduring threat. China’s military posted a graphic on social media past week listing five lessons from the strikes on Iran. One of it was the importance of “superior firepower,” which echoes Xi’s mantra.

It also listed the need for “self-reliance,” most likely a reference to China’s bid to reduce its dependence on other countries for critical inputs like energy and defence production. One pointer says China must guard against “the enemy within,” an apparent catchall to describe Beijing’s long-standing fear of foreign spying and any efforts to foment “colour revolutions” to overthrow govt Last month, the CIA released a new video aimed at recruiting spies within China’s military, hoping to exploit a sweeping anti-corruption campaign by Xi that has purged numerous senior commanders. One of the broadest takeaways being discussed in China is to not be lulled into a false sense of security by entering negotiations with Washington. That the first US-Israeli bombs fell on Iran when the parties were still supposed to be in talks struck Beijing as duplicitous and an abuse of US power. nyt