This is no ordinary time in US-China relations. While President Trump lacks consistency, predictability, factuality on many areas in the US-China relationship, there is still a major lack of reciprocity in the US-China trade relationship. Even so, there still exists a viable pathway to a US-China relationship that is mutually beneficial and politically sustainable.

Globalization has brought a new set of international issues to the table. A neutral voice of moderation that understands the world’s challenges should emerge to avoid decoupling or disaster.

Many observers believe the US has already begun a new cold war via comprehensive containment of China. But in recent decades, US elites have debated back and forth on the positive or negative implications of Chinese power. Today’s tensions are serious, but not unprecedented.

Amid growing U.S. concerns over Chinese espionage, Chinese students studying in the U.S. find themselves caught in the middle.

A Philippine subsidiary to a shipbuilding giant recently declared bankruptcy. Seeing what happened to Sri Lanka’s prized Hambantota port, some Filipino strategists fear that the Subic Bay Freeport Zone might suffer the same fate.

US intelligence exaggerates the threat they pose.

This goes beyond more than just trade.

The West should not overreact to China’s influence operations, nor sacrifice the openness that is a source of their strength.

A chorus of anti-China voices is rising across the US, a mix of disappointed ideologues, disgruntled stakeholders, unyielding populists, and those who enjoy a good fight and want to join the pack. But the tenor of the times is such that many of the same academics, and diplomats who once could be counted on to bridge the diplomatic gap have cut the conversation short and battened down the hatches.

Shinzo Abe will reduce tensions if he can but the Asian superpower is a potent threat.