CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
The two governments have been reduced to trading insults and taunts, closing consulates, and mounting demonization campaigns for the benefit of their respective domestic audiences.James A. WarrenPublished Nov. 27, 2020 5:12AM ET
U.S.-China relations have been on a generally downward trajectory since it became apparent during the later Obama years that America’s longstanding policy of diplomatic and economic engagement had failed to bring China around to embrace democratic institutions or accept the rules-based international order led by the United States. On all fronts—diplomatic, military, and commercial—the relationship has been an exceptionally bumpy ride since Donald Trump assumed office. With the advent of COVID-19, international relations scholars and professional China watchers say, things have gone rapidly from bad to worse.