Richard Haass: Relations on the brink between US and China

Pro-China supporters display a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest against the U.S. sanctions outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong. 

Observers of US-China relations increasingly talk of a new cold war. On top of a long-running trade war, the two countries now find themselves in a destructive cycle of mutual sanctions, consulate closings, and increasingly bellicose official speeches. Efforts to decouple the US economy from China’s are underway as tensions mount in both the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

A cold war between the United States and China would leave both countries and the world worse off. It would be dangerous and costly – not least because it would preclude needed cooperation on a host of regional and global issues.