Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi went to Africa, as is customary. But he also visited two Asian countries, a choice that signals China’s desire to break the U.S. attempt at containment.

Unless the United States comes up with a way to promote regional interaction, it will become increasingly difficult to return to a constructive track. It risks becoming a bystander, a follower or even a saboteur of economic cooperation.

2021 has shown how the EU will seek to maintain a competitive and cooperative relationship with China amidst tensions between the U.S. and China.

After moves by France, Germany and the Netherlands, the introduction of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific should come as no surprised. Two questions emerge: Is this new version of the strategy a follow-up to the United States or an independent strategic consideration? And how should China respond?

For a decade, the focus of the United States has shown a high degree of continuity, starting with George W. Bush and followed by Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. But America is now paying greater attention to detail and adding new features to its geostrategic approach.

The United States has been unsuccessful in its attempts to rally Southeast Asia against China. In recent months, it has mounted a transparent effort to curry favor in the region. But nobody wants to choose between major trading powers. They’d rather keep their options open.

The Biden administration is considering a digital trade agreement with countries in the Indo-Pacific in an effort to check China's influence in the region.

If the UK hasn’t thought through its position relative to the strategic competition between China and the United States, its pivot to the region will not make much of a splash.

It’s true that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy has brought certain pressures and challenges to China, but these are manageable, given the thinning resources of the United States and the ability of Chinese diplomacy to adapt.

A series of moves by the United States and the words of its high-ranking officials all point in the same direction: The U.S. is doing its utmost to contain China across the board for the 21st century.