China and United States should distinguish between strategic competition and a struggle for supremacy, as doing so would help avoid stepping over a boundary line beyond which competition turns into a drive for hegemony and world domination.

Recent events in Sino-American relations indicate that China may no longer be willing to work with the United States on managing contentious issues or buffering the rivalry between the two powers. Beijing’s recent interactions with American officials indicate a new uncompromising and “maximalist” approach, based on the belief that America is in terminal decline and its need to compromise or show deference is over.

They won’t resolve the significant issue of how China and the U.S. should go forward. But at least the talks established a strategic consensus on managing competition. More talks are likely — even amid quarrels.

U.S. Deputy of State Wendy Sherman recently talked with Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng and Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi on her visit to China. As relations remain contentious, it’s important that both China and the U.S. keep communication channels plural, open, and as bilaterally reciprocated as possible.

If the U.S. ally plays politics in its courts, other countries may follow its lead. Canada won’t look good if China and the U.S. decide to cut a deal regarding the extradition of Meng Wanzhou. It will be left out in the cold with a big boomerang knot on its head.

U.S. official’s visit to Tianjin illustrates that America’s intent to deal with China from a “position of strength” will not work. Attempts to force China to change while threatening its core interests will be ineffective in this moment of high competition.

The measures have dismally failed to meet the objectives of the Trump administration, and Biden should lift them immediately. Doing so, with China following suit, will usher in a new period of robust expansion that supports economic recovery on both sides of the Pacific.

Biden has yielded to pressure in a domestic political struggle and has refused to give up the tradition of flaunting U.S. superiority by subduing any power that may grow to challenge America’s hegemonic position in the world.

It is time for China, once and for all, to counter the ideological demonization of the United States and explain itself to the world. To do that, it needs to articulate convincing values and ideas as alternatives to American-style democracy.

The new U.S. president’s opening moves were generally steady and smooth, and some were successful. But America’s deep-rooted political and social contradictions will act as a constraint during Biden’s presidency.