American politicians have a long history of mangling economic-policy debates. Some recognize reality, like when George H.W. Bush characterized so-called supply-side tax cuts as “voodoo economics.” But far too many to distort economic statistics and analysis to score political points – think of “Modern Monetary Theory” or “deficit scolds.”

If the recent shift from decoupling to de-risking amounts to a game of semantics, it will damage what little strategic mutual trust remains between China and the United States. It will only heighten concerns and raise costs for the business community.

A change to softer rhetoric by the United States seems aimed at placating its domestic business community, but the ultimate objective of containing China hasn’t changed. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there’s a big difference. We shall wait and see.

Hiroshima highlighted the decline of Western influence in global economic governance. The group’s inherent inadequacy arises from the desperate effort by a small group of member nations to maintain their dominant position in the world.

Lip service notwithstanding, what Washington has been doing over the years is a form of decoupling with China — in the guise of national security. Top American officials have not articulated any boundary between decoupling and what they say are moves to “de-risk” the relationship. In many ways, they look the same.

The hype over a separation of China and the United States is rooted in a new cold war mentality. But Premier Li Qiang said the two can and must cooperate. There is much they can achieve by working together, while encirclement and suppression is in no one’s interest.

Export controls are central in economic competition between the U.S. and China. A new U.S.-led multilateral export control regime could further entrench efforts to exclude China from accessing Western technology.

U.S. and Chinese officials have grown accustomed to barbed exchanges in the public forum. It would seem that the minds of the two nations are diverging to opposing extremes. While a U.S.-China schism is undeniable, the world of academia is operating at a different wavelength than their government counterparts.

Washington wants to build a “small chip world” for itself that is decoupled from global supply chains. This is pure fantasy. The act can neither help the U.S. achieve a secure supply chain nor rejuvenate its domestic chip manufacturing sector. And it won’t slow China down either.

In the past, the U.S. dollar and Chinese yuan used to move inversely. Recently, that has not been the case. The dollar is appreciating, and so is the yuan. Are the bilateral currencies decoupling?