Author: Joseph Nye, CSIS and Harvard

China-US relations are, once again, in a downswing. China objected to President Barack Obama’s receiving the Dalai Lama in the White House, as well as to the administration’s arms sales to Taiwan. There was ample precedent for both decisions, but some Chinese leaders expected Obama to be more sensitive to what China sees as its ‘core interests’ in national unity.

Things were not supposed to turn out this way. A year ago, the Obama administration made major efforts to reach out to China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to ‘being in the same boat’, and that China and the United States would ‘rise and fall together.’ Read more…