The Shangri-La Dialogue underscored the importance of military-to-military relations as a stabilizing factor in China-U.S. relations. While they have been the most sensitive and closely watched aspect, they have also been one of the few bright spots.

Neither China nor the U.S. wants to see a humanitarian crisis brought by famine in developing nations. At the UN General Assembly in September, President Xi Jinping listed food security among eight key areas for China-U.S. cooperation. There is much that the major powers can do.

The BRICS and Quad organizations, led by China and the U.S. respectively, have begun making competing overtures to nations in Asia in an attempt to counter each other’s influence.

Heightened U.S. military deployments on the Korean Peninsula will only exacerbate the regional security dilemma that affects China, Russia and the DPRK. Meanwhile, exclusivity between the United States and ROK in some trade sectors will be hard to pull off.

America wants to back away some, but not entirely, as the region has become an important geopolitical factor. So U.S engagement will be limited. With Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific in play, it cannot afford to add resources to the Arab region.

If the United States and China went into armed conflict, it would be ruinous for both nations. The two governments must work together to find common ground, address arising issues, including tensions with Taiwan, and prevent war.

Lacking concrete detail, the framework is burdened by great uncertainty. Moreover, the United States seems to be sending a decoupling signal to China — a questionable strategy. If the U.S. continues along this line, it will be hard to win confidence and cooperation from countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The goal of the United States in creating the IPEF is to gain an asymmetric technological advantage over China and to create an environment for long-term competition. It wants a new rules-based Indo-Pacific order forged in its own image.

The IPEF as yet has no real content, so people are understandably mystified. America wants to drive a wedge between regional countries and China. But this won’t work, as China is already embedded. Supply chains will not be altered on a whim.

In cyberspace order and governance, China is a global leader. It’s capacity continues to improve, and it has a major role to play in working toward a more peaceful, secure, open and cooperative digital future.