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.

There is lots of room for China-U.S. cooperation, but it won’t happen automatically. A concerted effort by both is needed. The Americans should recognize that China is a trustworthy partner, not a rival, when it comes to Afghan affairs. China, too, will need to change its thinking.

(The following is the keynote speech by Chinese ambassador to the United States Mr. Qin Gang at the welcome event hosted by the National Committee on US-China R

Conventional logic would say that new leadership should open a broad window to reset relationships between nations. Yet as the first 6 months of the Biden presidency shows, the story is not always so cut-and-dry.