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Sino-US relations: What has race got to do with it?

To use racial and civilisational paradigms to describe the rivalry is to go down a path strewn with pitfalls

ST ILLUSTRATION: MANNY FRANCISCO
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What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?

In the realm of international affairs, this apparent paradox captures the complexities of the current state of US-China relations.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 28, 2019, with the headline Sino-US relations: What has race got to do with it?. Subscribe