Power Play

Dangerous perception gap in Sino-US ties

China is on the rise. The US is having a midlife crisis and going downhill. Whatever the truth behind these snapshot summaries, policies based on mismatched perceptions can block the path to better ties and lead to risky miscalculations.

Read-outs of last week's phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Joe Biden already point to US-China relations becoming harder. PHOTO: AFP
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Power Play is a weekly column that looks at various facets of US-China rivalry and its implications for Asia.

To many of China's foreign policy commentators, the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan confirmed their world view: that America has lost confidence in itself and is an empire in decisive decline.

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