Strong-arm tactics by the United States will not cause China to bend to its will. What’s needed is honest diplomacy that recognizes and respects China’s history, culture and spirit.

China’s political system is fundamentally incompatible with the mainstream of the existing international order, leaving it two choices as it considers how to fend off Trump’s onslaught.

The third episode of The Pacific Dialogue, is between two prominent scholars – Prof. Ezra Vogel of the Harvard University and Prof. Jia Qingguo of Peking University. They spoke from their homes in Boston and Beijing respectively. The conversation took place on July 28, 2020, and was moderated by China-US Focus Editor-at-Large James Chau in Hong Kong.

Will “Trump shock” turn out to be a temporary blip in the course of American politics or a chronic disease that will continue to infect future relations for years to come? Stay tuned.

The last three months has seen a number of major policy statements by top Trump Administration officials. If there was any question that the Trump administration seeks a new Cold War confrontation with China, these documents and speeches provide the answer.

A new test for Chinese diplomacy will be guiding the United States to adapt to a new situation. By affirming the positive role of the U.S. in creating the postwar world order, China and others can show that they are not attempting to exclude it now but merely helping it evolve.

The trade and economic relationships between China and the United States have provided an essential calming influence over many decades. Now, the international community is concerned that they may break down.

China needs to figure out how to respond constructively to provocations by the United States, especially as the rhetoric heats up in a presidential election year. I have some suggestions.

A desire for all-around containment of China by the United States — pushed by hawkish political elements — is a major error that only boxes the two countries into the so-called Thucydides trap. Conflict will have no winners.

How the United States decides to tilt the delicately balanced scales will determine whether relations with China will heal or erode further. Both countries stand to gain from cooperation, and both will lose by confrontation. We need to remove the painful barbs with patience.