The third episode of The Pacific Dialogue, is between two prominent scholars – Prof. Ezra Vogel of the Harvard University and Prof. Jia Qingguo of Peking University. They spoke from their homes in Boston and Beijing respectively. The conversation took place on July 28, 2020, and was moderated by China-US Focus Editor-at-Large James Chau in Hong Kong.

Will “Trump shock” turn out to be a temporary blip in the course of American politics or a chronic disease that will continue to infect future relations for years to come? Stay tuned.

The last three months has seen a number of major policy statements by top Trump Administration officials. If there was any question that the Trump administration seeks a new Cold War confrontation with China, these documents and speeches provide the answer.

Making diplomacy fail may actually be the goal. But even if the hawks in America dream that confrontation will boost Trump’s re-election chances, they should understand that it could sink China-U.S. relations into a morass of incalculable proportions.

The recent China bashing by senior American officials represents a resurgence of the suppressive politics of the U.S. in the 1950s, led by a now disgraced senator from Wisconsin whose name has become synonymous with intolerance and name-calling.

Could the sparks of today’s Cold War with China start a conventional or nuclear war? With a militaristic American president, a looming U.S. election, and a slowing Chinese economy, the threat of war seems to be is looming.

China bashing is a regular fixture of presidential campaigns in the United States. But it’s crucial that they be contained. The China-U.S. relationship should not be trifled with. It is the most consequential bilateral connection in the world.

China needs to figure out how to respond constructively to provocations by the United States, especially as the rhetoric heats up in a presidential election year. I have some suggestions.

A desire for all-around containment of China by the United States — pushed by hawkish political elements — is a major error that only boxes the two countries into the so-called Thucydides trap. Conflict will have no winners.

How the United States decides to tilt the delicately balanced scales will determine whether relations with China will heal or erode further. Both countries stand to gain from cooperation, and both will lose by confrontation. We need to remove the painful barbs with patience.