China’s stake in Portugal represents a significant foothold in a country with a population of just over 10 million. It provides a gateway to the giant Lusophone market of more than 280 million consumers in the former colonies of Latin America and Africa, which include China’s BRICS partner, Brazil, energy-rich Angola, and Mozambique. Deepwater ports and possession of the Azores add to Portugal’s importance to maritime strategy, a key Chinese preoccupation.

Now the government of Prime Minister António Costa, a socialist, has quietly moved back toward the North Atlantic consensus and stepped away from its previously cozy ties with Beijing - very much like Italy this year.