The recently concluded G-7, U.S.-EU, and NATO Summits in Europe showed newfound coordination and common purpose vis-à-vis China. This represents a new and more confrontational stage in Sino-Western relations. China’s reactions to the joint communiqués were quick to condemn them. Expect heightened tensions between China and the West in the months ahead.

The United States does not neighbor China, but it exerts considerable influence on countries in East Asia. China hopes all will act in good faith to build an open and inclusive Asia that embraces peace, prosperity and win-win cooperation.

Three major matters underpin the future of China-U.S. relations. First, there is no such thing as a destiny of doom as presented in the concept of the Thucydides trap. On the contrary, the future of the Sino-U.S. relationship is largely up to both countries to assess, determine and choose.

China needs to a better job in responding to Western scolding. It may need to express discontent, or even anger, from time to time. But mostly it must be able to deliver a positive, vivid and appealing Chinese narrative.

The United States and China are embroiled in a contest that might prove more enduring, more wide-ranging, and more intense than any other international competi­tion in modern history, including the Cold War. In both countries, fears have grown that the contest might escalate into open conflict.

China recently initiated a wave of diplomatic courtship of ASEAN nations, as both sides work to navigate the reality of China’s resurgent gravity in the Pacfic region.

Southeast Asia’s coalition of small-to-medium sized nations have hosted superpower conflicts, yet they are overshadowed by larger regional powers on the global stage time and time again. American leadership will struggle to find welcoming allies there without a drastic upgrade in its dealings with ASEAN member nations.

Efforts to placate both the United States and the PRC are proving ever more challenging, as the recent Group of Seven and NATO summits have shown.

G7 members created a firm front for confronting China, one of Biden's clear goals.

Britain’s approach to China is unrealistic. While seeking a positive trade and investment relationship, it also asserts that China threatens its security, prosperity and values. These two views are incompatible. Having one’s cake and eating it too is a daydream.