European leaders are being targeted as potential “pawns” of the Communist Party of China, according to a NATO member intelligence report that has angered Chinese officials.

“It is important to understand that in the eyes of the CPC, decision-makers in other countries are only useful pawns to help implement CPC strategies,” the foreign intelligence agency of Estonia wrote in a 2020 annual report. “The underlying goal is to impose its own worldview and standards, building a Beijing-led international environment that appeals to China.”

The portrayal of the Chinese regime as an international security threat drew a furious response from Beijing, which demanded a retraction last week on the eve of an international security conference that featured an extensive debate about Western policies toward China. Estonian officials brushed off the demand, reiterating the need for a coherent European Union policy to resist Chinese threats.

"The Foreign Intelligence Agency's assessment is a security assessment based on their own expertise,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said Tuesday. "I think that the more united the EU is in its relations with China, the more reasonable it can be.”

The Chinese Embassy in Tallinn complained that the report is “characterized by ignorance [and] prejudice” and “hurt [the] good feelings of Chinese people” toward the Baltic country. “They should stop releasing the distorted report alike, which harms both home and others,” the embassy said. “They are advised to make useful and practical efforts to support development of bilateral relations.”

The document echoes U.S. warnings that Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies seeking to provide next-generation wireless technology to Europe are a serious intelligence risk.

“The threat of Chinese technology is strategic and will be revealed in the long term,” the report, released Feb. 12, emphasized. “China has a different culture and values than the West and a repressive communist regime [is] in power. As one aspect of building its global influence, China creates dependencies in other countries step by step, over the long term.”

Huawei’s 5G offerings have turned into a point of contention between the United States and European allies. Washington regards the company as a platform for Beijing’s intelligence agencies. European nations think the company can help power a wave of economic development at a low cost. That diplomatic tug of war is only going to worsen due to the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China, according to the Estonians.

“In 2020, the confrontation between China and the West will predictably deepen, as all signs point to increasingly complicated relations and China’s unwillingness to adapt to the Western world,” the former Soviet vassal state’s intelligence agency warned. “China is seeking out European decision-makers who share Beijing’s thinking, and the undermining of Western unity will remain among its main goals in the near future.”