Global Affairs

Who lost the US? A question for China

The deterioration in ties cannot be attributed to the Trump administration alone. China, too, has made its share of missteps.

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Who lost China? The possibility that the United States may be responsible for alienating China and perhaps condemning the world to a needless confrontation has been a constant theme in American academic and political debates for many decades. And it is recurring today, in particular, as the threat of both a cold war and trade war between the US and China is looming.

Yet, what about turning this debate the other way around by asking whether China may also be responsible for "losing" the US through a set of misguided actions that has resulted in America's alienation?

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 17, 2018, with the headline Who lost the US? A question for China. Subscribe