As U.S.-China trade tensions mount, “decoupling” must be understood broadly. It occurs in many areas, at different speeds and with unique consequences.

“Competition” carries any number of connotations, from benign to malicious. Clarity about exactly what the Trump administration means would be helpful.

This doesn’t mean soft appeasement or concession. Outreach is conducive to the development of stable relations and serves China’s own long-term national interests.

It’s a huge challenge and a great responsibility for policy makers and strategists on both sides to continue their predecessors’ efforts and halt any deterioration in this most important and consequential relationship in the world today.

Every time there is a change of administration in either the United States or China, the international media is suddenly filled with speculation over how the interpersonal relations between individual leaders might affect relations between the world’s two most important countries. Such myopic gossip, however, ignores the larger structural, historical, and domestic political forces that ultimately play the leading roles in shaping the dynamics of US-China relations.

Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States, which could signal a new configuration for U.S.-China relations. Three options appear possible. First, Trump’s Administration could end up confusing China through a mixture of respect and intimidation. Second, Trump’s Administration could opt to preserve the status quo of economic engagement but American military superiority in East Asia. And Third, Trump’s Administration could seek to orient the bilateral relationship towards respect and mutual benefit, avoiding “self-damaging” competition. Which path will be taken will largely rest on the sort of people Trump appoints to his Administration.

With August 22, 2014 marking the 110th Anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth, Yu Sui reflects on the role this remarkable date plays in China’s foreign policy and how Xi Jinping has carried on Deng’s work.