China has emerged as the most formidable challenge that has ever faced NATO. That is true as well for the North American and European economies upon which NATO rests, which account for roughly half of global GDP.

Most media focused on the theatrics of this week's 70th anniversary summit of NATO's now-29 members. The biggest news – though woefully underreported – was that NATO, history's most enduring and successful alliance, for the first-time defined China as a strategic challenge.

That news was drowned out by French leader Emmanuel Macron, who came into town having declared NATO brain dead; by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who responded that it instead was the French leader's brain that was lifeless; by Canadian leader Justin Trudeau, who was caught mocking President Trump during allied cocktail hour; and by President Trump, who shrugged in response that the Canadian was two-faced.

As entertaining as all that was, more significant was that NATO allies have belatedly focused on the most significant challenge to world democracies and their market-driven economies in our new era of major power competition. However, although the closing NATO summit statement required unanimity, even more revealing is the ambiguity of its language, reflecting disagreement over whether Beijing is more of an economic opportunity than fundamental challenge.

"We recognize that China's growing influence and international policies present both opportunities and challenges that we need to address together as an alliance," it said.

That's soft stuff considering that this authoritarian, state capitalist country has already become a global center of gravity – the world's largest by population, ranking second only to the United States in military spending and, depending on what measure you like, is already or will soon be the largest economy on Earth.

The language was also muted compared to new outrage and legislative action in the United States and elsewhere regarding the reported repression of China's Uighur Muslim minority, following weeks of Hong Kong protests and local elections supporting their cause, and in the face of continued concerns regarding Huawei's 5G telecom dominance.

One also didn't have to look far in the news this week to see new evidence of China's growing partnerships with Russia, NATO's primary focus for many years, ranging from a new 1,800 mile-long gas pipeline connecting both countries, to Huawei's expanded relations with at least eight top Russian universities and research institutes.

Writing for Defense One, the Atlantic Council's Barry Pavel and Ian Brzezinski have usefully called upon NATO to create a NATO-China Council that would collectively engage China on areas of concern. It would be a structural mechanism for dialogue with Russia to raise concerns, avoid misunderstandings and, where possible, foster cooperation.

The list of matters it would deal with is already a lengthy one, write the authors: Huawei's targeting of European and North American digital infrastructure; increasing ownership of major European seaports critical to NATO; joint exercises with the Russian military, including in the Nordic-Baltic region; and cyber espionage and intellectual property theft.