A more assertive Congress is moving steadily against China. Various factions seek to out-tough each other to gain public support, oblivious to the economic toll. Deviation from free market rules means higher costs for U.S. businesses and damage to U.S. industry.

At the recent two sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated China's policy towards the US. Their statements included several important messages that the US should take to heart if it hopes to manage the Sino-US relationship successfully.

The deteriorating state of Sino-American relations is causing increasing concern as both sides engage in aggressive rhetoric and actions across multiple dimensions of their relationship. Academics, corporations, investors, and citizens must prepare for the worst by scenario planning, and adjusting their mindsets to brace for a prolonged period of rivalry, while remaining on the lookout for opportunities for collaboration and bridge-building.

The U.S. and many of its allies rely heavily on the Chinese economy. Decoupling is not realistic and would only lead to long-term economic decline. On its current path — which is nothing if not clumsy — the Biden administration is only hurting the American people.

Industrial and supply chains have become the main theater of competition between China and the United States. America’s technology war will be deliberate, intense and long-term. For this reason, China must be strategically prepared for a protracted fight.

It is crucial to prepare for all-out China-U.S. competition. The country that can best demonstrate wisdom, willpower and courage will have the advantage over time, and new cooperation models may alter the trajectory of history.

The heightened tensions between the U.S. and China are here to stay until both sides can reach common ground - which may have to begin in literal form in locations that both sides can send representatives to dialogue over critical issues.

Western advocates of a renewed standoff between great powers are blinded by their biases, as China’s rise goes beyond Western experience. At a time of deep economic interdependence and with weapons unimaginable in the past, who can guarantee that a confrontation would not escalate out of control?

Historically, the United States has made many strategic blunders based on misguided thinking — and people have paid a heavy price. If America’s current misjudgments about itself are coupled with competitive hostility toward China, it may sink into a new quagmire.

A recent substack post from American muckraker Seymour Hersh blames the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline on the Biden White House and CIA. And Chinese and Russian media can’t get enough. Alternatively, U.S. media has been hyper fixated on the Chinese spy balloon incident for weeks. Are both sides playing down truths to keep diplomacy alive? Only time will tell.