Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his speech on the Biden administration’s approach to China last week. While he laid out a laundry list of China-U.S. policy issues, the administration must now actively fashion an integrated strategy to deal with the ongoing challenges presented by Beijing.

The demonization of China that began during the Trump presidency has persisted. Bilateral relations are morphing from a competition over interests to a struggle over values and identity. The near future looks bleak, but there’s hope further down the road.

Expect China and the U.S. to remain in a state of strategic stalemate for a long time. The most dangerous moments in bilateral ties will be when the two countries strengths bump against one another. We must be fully prepared for that.

The positive turn initiated by Richard Nixon 50 years ago seems to have ground to a halt. The China-U.S. relationship has hit a low point. But while America has come to regard China as its primary strategic competitor, there are ways to get back on track.

Past experience is a guide for the future, so what can we learn today from the normalization of China-U.S. relations? First, we must be realistic. Second, we must be willing to break conventional rules.

By starting and sustaining a tech war against China, Washington has placed itself on the wrong side of history. Like its trade war, the battle in the high-technology sector will turn out to be difficult to win.

American anxiety about China shows that China has become a “near-peer” competitor to the United States. But the process of competition will not be dictated by the U.S. alone. The impact will only be revealed through interaction over time and the handling of key issues.

Artificial intelligence’s many applications have the potential to change daily life for people worldwide. It also has the potential to reshape military power in the future. With China and the U.S. locked into a power struggle, this is one area where both sides have great incentive to leapfrog the other.

The deadline for China to reach the Phase 1 Trade Agreement targets has come and gone, and China has officially fallen short of its commitments. The two countries now must decide how to move forward.

Some of the Cold War experience, though it may not be an exact parallel, can be instructive. A pattern should be established to avoid dragging the world into a lose-lose scenario.