Communication is about image. The image of a country, similar with those of a corporation or individual, generally includes three dimensions: first, who you are, and what kind of a person you are; second, what you say you are and are like; third, what others say you are and are like. When images of the three dimensions coincide, they would basically result in a complete and objective image. If they are partly missing or diverge too much from one another, the subsequent image may easily be distorted, or unconvincing.

I recently flew to China for an academic conference on some of the geopolitical and security issues dividing Washington and Beijing. I had attended the same event two years before and enjoyed the wide-ranging discussion. The conference was to bring together scholars from throughout Asia and beyond.

A group of experts on Thursday highlighted the importance of China-U.S. cooperation on education, and urged the two sides to enhance ties in this area.

There are clear consequences to deteriorating quality and reciprocity in China-U.S. educational exchange. Lack of understanding of the differences between both political systems means that policy will be crafted based on outdated information.

Racing for the exit in bilateral exchange programs threatens to take out of circulation the trust and goodwill that have helped both China and the U.S. prosper and keep the peace in one of the most remarkable bilateral relationships in history.

The US has recently begun denying visas to Chinese scholars not just in sensitive high-tech areas, but in the social sciences and liberal arts. These moves not only threaten America’s reputation for open-minded exchange with the outside world—some China experts in the US fear that the FBI’s actions are a warning of even more aggressive and paranoid “decoupling” of US-China relations in the days to come.

The move reflects anxiety and lack of confidence on the part of the U.S.

Now, that door appears to be closing, with the two nations ramping up their strategic rivalry and each regarding academic visitors from the other with greater suspicion — of espionage, commercial theft and political meddling.

The concept of “sharp power” is nothing but another demonizing tool against China.