Containment of China is a long-term U.S. strategy — one that continues to expand. Now guided by the Biden administration’s National Security Strategy, which was released in March 2021, a wide range of government departments are formulating anti-China policies. They are not going to stop.

Despite a meeting of presidents and intensive talks at lower levels, the United States has not fundamentally altered its position. This needs to change. Next year should be characterized by reasonable, constructive efforts — followed by action — to ease the current tensions.

Playing to his domestic audience, the U.S. president must appear tough on human rights. But this has its limits. America’s half-baked Olympic boycott applies only to diplomats, not to athletes. To do more would risk domestic and international blowback.

Oddly, President Biden has claimed on several occasions that he hoped competition with China would not veer into conflict. But Washington-style competition means a race to the bottom — and possible peril.

The United States has begun to consolidate a Western consensus in many respects, but its competitive perspective on global issues will eventually cost it credibility and appeal in the field of climate governance.

While a recent speech by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Chi Tai was filled with accusations and predictable slanders against China, it also reflected a somewhat more nuanced trend, showing that America is attempting to moderate relations.

Though the Biden administration has promised that a comprehensive policy on trade with China would be produced, it is looking more and more like they intend to piece together Trump-era actions under their name.

Over several decades, the U.S. has emphasized crisis management with China, mostly for tactical reasons. Now, the Biden administration’s emphasis is clearly strategic. The U.S. wants to be in a position to constrain China’s policy options, while tilting the playing field toward its own interests.

Speeches by Xi Jinping and Joe Biden laid out their understanding of the international political order from the perspective of their own national history. Developed nations in the West may identify with the U.S. vision, while developing nations may find the Chinese vision more attractive.

As the United States redistributes resources in response to complex dynamics with regard to China, its approach is likely to be an evolutionary, full-spectrum endeavor that goes beyond the military alone. It’s a posture that will be difficult to maintain and one that could even create chaos.