After nearly two years in office, the Biden administration recently published its National Security Strategy. The 48-page document covers the broad spectrum of national security and foreign policy challenges to the United States, prominently including the People’s Republic of China.

It’s clear that the United States is determined to win its competition with China. Therefore, China should prepare for greater pressure from the U.S. during what the newly released National Security Strategy calls the “decisive decade” ahead.

Europe has stepped up its engagement with Taiwan to a level unthinkable only a few years ago - a dynamic which is welcomed in Washington but risks triggering commercial reprisals from Beijing. If not managed carefully, such actions threaten to reduce Europe’s diplomatic leeway and ability to contribute to a peaceful solution of Cross-Strait relations. The EU should urgently set up a high-level communication channel with Beijing to complement the transatlantic dialogue on the Indo-Pacific established last year.

There are many imperfections and contradictions in the latest NSS. It’s hard enough to promote fairness and justice in the world, so how does one balance a strategy that puts U.S. interests and the well-being of Americans ahead of everyone else?

The new U.S. National Security Strategy report reflects a certain anxiety within the Biden administration, which has not evolved materially beyond Trump. The strategy neither advances global peace nor prevents China-U.S. relations from sliding into confrontation.

With the possible passage of the Taiwan Policy Act of 2002, the United States is showing that, notwithstanding lip service, it is moving in a direction of open support for the island. China must prepare for the worst-case scenario.

A China-U.S. military altercation and violence over Taiwan ought to be avoided. Several steps must be taken by both sides to ensure global stability, such as maintaining core values like patience, pragmatism, and some degree of empathy for different parties’ perspectives.

Successive white papers shed light on national leaders’ approach to reunification with Taiwan. All explain and respond to critics, emphasizing a policy of peaceful reunification and the implementation of the one country, two systems concept.

Worried about Taiwan’s fate, Washington imagines that the Chinese mainland might copy Russia and resort to force. Biden administration officials have said they want to see Taiwan apply the lessons learned from Ukraine’s resistance.

It’s imperative that the new “low” in U.S.-China relations doesn’t become the new normal. And understanding the historical connotations of the relationship, particularly regarding Taiwan, is imperative for paving the way for a better, more diplomatic future.