Though America and China’s governments see eye-to-eye on very little these days, cooperation in the scientific fields is possible and has been happening quietly for some time.

Meng Wanzhou’s release, along with Canada’s two Michaels, breaks a deadlock in a geopolitical tug-of-war. It presents an opportunity to restore mutual trust between China and the U.S. in the sci-tech sector. A crackdown on China now would be ill-timed.

Prominent scientists from renowned universities in the United States are raising their voices to protest the unfair persecution of their colleagues of Chinese origin by the U.S. Department of Justice. Xenophobia is not conducive to maintaining technical leadership.

A three-tier diplomatic architecture is needed under which leaders at the top level can break the ice and remove roadblocks for those below. While there are some grounds for concern of a possible bilateral breakup, this cannot be allowed to happen. There is safety in clarity.

U.S.-Sino ties plunged during the Trump administration, but the downfall has only intensified since Biden’s presidency. Without concrete policy shifts, the tensions, fueled by defense contractors, translate to arms races and elevated nuclear risks in Asia.

The U.S. president’s hands are tied by Democrats’ slim majority in Congress, and Republican are piling on the pressure ahead of elections. So it will be tough for the U.S. to change its policy course anytime soon, so long as those in policymaking circles stick to their views.

China’s “two lists” and “three bottom lines” clearly lay out China’s basic interests. If the United States truly wants to compete responsibly, it must respect China’s interests and understand its concerns. Only this approach can avoid a slide into conflict.

Why should shared interest in middle class development in China and the United States be a key driving force in the bilateral relationship today?

In Washington, relations between China and the United States are often seen in terms of ideology — a game in which both seek to export their political systems and topple the values of the other. But the more immediate question involves industrial policies.

In 2018, US President Donald Trump declared that the US had erred in backing China’s accession into the World Trade Organization in 2001. He was convicted that such political establishment had been lulled by China’s still juvenile economic situation in the late 1980s, and that American politicians failed to grasp that supporting China’s candidacy would create a political and economic risk to the US’ global hegemony.