Veteran Chinese diplomat He Yafei talks about why the relationship with the U.S. has been an important factor for China’s success in the last 40 years in its reform and opening-up effort, explaining China’s market potential and the assumptions of the American leaders that economic liberalization would eventually lead to democracy for the country. “China has not adopted the American model,” he says. The watershed year came in 2017 after Trump took office when a consensus emerged that the U.S. has failed its China policy.