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.

Major-country relations are changing dramatically. Chinese academics and political leaders should conduct an in-depth analysis of what China faces. The United States has already started a new Cold War in regional and global industrial chains.

Washington’s initiatives are being pitched as an “alternative to China,” as they divide developing countries and solidify U.S. control. The IPEF may compete with ASEAN, raising questions about the bloc’s centrality.

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs just endorsed the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 by 17-5. The legislation will then be submitted to the Senate for review. If the House also proposes and approves a corresponding legislation later, President Biden may sign it into law. Even if the Act won’t sail through Congress, corresponding clauses may still be incorporated into such legislations as the National Defense Authorization Act and put into practice.

For the United States, any country that seems to pose a challenge cannot be tolerated. The abrupt transformation of China-U.S. relations into a strategic rivalry arose directly from the perception that China’s development poses a threat to U.S. dominance.

U.S.-China relations seem to hit a “new low” every other month, when instead both sides could be taking actionable steps to repair relations and move beyond petty squabbles on the world stage.

The U.S.-China relationship started with uncertainty, and the consequences of this rocky foundation are seen today.

The visit to Taiwan by the U.S. House speaker is a straight-up violation of the one-China principle. It requires no stretch of imagination to see that security and stability will be dangerously degraded if the United States fails to reflect.

The negative influences of the U.S. House speaker’s Taiwan visit are fermenting and will continue to poison China-U.S. relations. Domestic political winds in the United States are stirring up strategic confusion that will inevitably increase the risk of war.

It’s not clear that China and the United States can sit down for truly in-depth discussions that ensure each side can send restrained messages to let the other party get it right. The consequence of failure could mean war, and we’re nearly out of time.