China removed as top priority for US spies

The White House National Security Council recently removed China from a priority 1 spy status down to a priority 2 status. This puts the priority of gaining intelligence on Chinese activities on par with humanitarian disasters.

This decision was made in order to foster a more cooperative relationship with Beijing.

So we're going to lower the priority to gain intelligence on China's rapidily growing military, their ceaseless cyberattacks and thieving of our military/industrial/commercial secrets for a hope of a better relationship with them. Great...just freaking excellent. Washington Times

The White House National Security Council recently directed U.S. spy agencies to lower the priority placed on intelligence collection for China, amid opposition to the policy change from senior intelligence leaders who feared it would hamper efforts to obtain secrets about Beijing's military and its cyber-attacks.

The downgrading of intelligence gathering on China was challenged by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair and CIA Director Leon E. Panetta after it was first proposed in interagency memorandums in October, current and former intelligence officials said.

The decision downgrades China from "Priority 1" status, alongside Iran and North Korea, to "Priority 2," which covers specific events such as the humanitarian crisis after the Haitian earthquake or tensions between India and Pakistan.