During donald trump’s four years in the White House, tempests buffeted relations between America and China. There was a trade war, backed by presidential tweets “hereby” ordering American businesses to leave China. There was also mutual finger-pointing over the origins of covid-19, including conspiracy theories, promoted by Chinese diplomats, that the virus began in an American military laboratory. In 2020 Mr Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, urged his country to see clearly its differences with the “bankrupt, totalitarian” ideology of the Communist Party, and to empower the Chinese people to “induce China to change”. That speech is not forgotten in Beijing, where party leaders heard a call for their overthrow.
Today, a chilly, comfortless calm reigns. The powers resemble rival battle-fleets, navigating seas filled with icebergs and other half-understood dangers. Fresh ice was sighted during the Communist Party congress which ended on October 22nd. A day later Xi Jinping was crowned as party chief for a third term, and possibly for life. Mr Xi’s report to the congress catalogued threats to national security, including attempts by unnamed forces (meaning America, above all) to sabotage, subvert and contain China’s rise. He stressed the need for China to show a fighting spirit and achieve greater self-reliance, especially in core technologies.
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