Interwoven interests with the United States are a Gordian knot that cannot be cut without doing serious harm. Alarm bells are ringing in Washington.

Decoupling serves neither China nor the United States. Instead, it would impose grave economic costs on both countries at best and threatens a calamitous military clash at worst.

Innovation and further opening-up are the antidote to technological suppression by the United States. The difficulties it imposes are real, but they are temporary and surmountable. They only inspire us.

“Decoupling” is central to the geopolitical duel between the United States and China. Conceived and promoted by hawks in US President Donald Trump’s administration, this strategy has now become America’s principal tool to weaken Chinese power.

New regulations that require heightened scrutiny of Chinese investors in the name of national security only add to the risks Chinese enterprises face when investing overseas and nudge decoupling forward.

The coronavirus demonstrates the need for broader cooperation between China and the U.S. Now is not the time to decouple the bilateral relationship.

Long before the coronavirus outbreak, the number-crunchers were at work modeling various possibilities for shifting supply-chains. The epidemic has provided a preview of just how bad things can get.

There is an alternative for resolving the China-U.S. puzzle that goes beyond the simple binary choice of “deep integration” or “decoupling.” But the two sides must want to discover it.

Concerns of China and the United States over science and technology can be resolved by the international community. Avoiding the huge cost of decoupling should be a top consideration.

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