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The US is wrong about China. Here’s how to get back on track
Viewing China through an angry red mist makes for bad policymaking.
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US policy towards China has evolved under its last three presidents: (from left) Mr Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Mr Joe Biden.
PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS
Tom Orlik
In 1972, Dr Henry Kissinger paved the way for the normalisation of US-China relations. The US national security adviser engineered a meeting between president Richard Nixon and chairman Mao Zedong – a master stroke of realpolitik. It peeled China away from the Soviet bloc, giving the United States an edge in the Cold War.
More recently, former president Donald Trump started a trade war against China and called Covid-19 the “kung flu”. US President Joe Biden stuck with Trump’s tariffs and amplified them with sanctions on Chinese tech companies, confirming Beijing’s view that the US was attempting to block the economic rise of its rival.
