The United States is at a turning point. It can heal the wounds inflicted by Donald Trump on China-U.S. relations if it’s willing to reverse its containment strategy and return to civilized principles.

From Obama to Trump, US policy towards China has not been productive. The current administration should follow a “humble” foreign policy and regain credibility on the world stage.

The White House said on Monday it was “absurd” to suggest that President Donald Trump was an unreliable negotiator as China reportedly balks at a summit with President Xi Jinping over concerns Trump would walk away from a trade deal.

China needs to keep its composure and resist the impulse towards a strategic showdown with the United States.

Tillerson’s replacement by Pompeo will see a more hawkish State Department, especially on China.

Cooper and Douglas presented four visions of U.S. strategy towards China: primacy, balance, concert and integration. President Trump’s persona, rhetoric and actions suggest that he will lean more towards primacy with an element of balance in dealing with China. Primacy and balance constitute viable strategies in dealing with an emerging rival, but over reliance on these two unnecessarily limits U.S. foreign policy maneuverability and poses serious danger.

Regarding China, Pompeo is likely to offer more of the same mixed approach that has thus far characterized the Trump administration’s policy. On the one hand, Pompeo has endorsed the notion that China is an economic threat to the United States, and on the other hand, Pompeo has spoken positively of Xi Jinping, particularly with reference to China’s role in helping to place pressure on North Korea.

It’s a huge challenge and a great responsibility for policy makers and strategists on both sides to continue their predecessors’ efforts and halt any deterioration in this most important and consequential relationship in the world today.

Dividing the world into camps of “free societies” and “repressive regimes”, and proposing to collaborate with countries of similar values to deal with “repression”, sends a message that threatens to split the international community.

In recent weeks, Washington has stepped up its efforts to check Chinese maritime ambitions in the South China Sea. The Pentagon has stepped up its Freedom of Navigation Operations, while deploying Defense Secretary James Mattis to key Southeast Asian partners. With China emerging as America’s top national security concern, there are growing signs that the Trump administration’s South China Sea policy is finally taking shape.