U.S.-China Competition

From Kissinger to Kerry, Washington’s top diplomat once visited Beijing regularly. Not anymore.

Remember that nuclear submarine deal with Australia?

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.

Prepare for the first real global debate on the future of fossil fuels.

After last week’s Xi-Biden meeting, the world’s two chief powers have merely agreed to a cessation of hostilities.

Biden’s long-awaited meeting with Xi is a reminder of how most big economies are inextricably tied to both Washington and Beijing.

From new panda promises to failed AI compromises, here are the biggest wins and losses of this week’s U.S.-China tête-à-tête.

Biden and Xi agreed to restart military-to-military talks, but not much else.

Does face-to-face diplomacy ever change anything?

Efforts to reestablish communication channels dominated the highly anticipated summit.

Their meeting in San Francisco will reportedly lead to pledges on areas of mutual concern, as tensions remain high.

Technology, trade, and Taiwan dominate in a new report to Congress.

Having nothing to write home about would be the preferred outcome for both sides.

While deliverables are likely to be modest, Wednesday’s meeting could yield progress on shared priorities.

What Beijing’s about-face on coal power means for climate change—and how the world can push back.

Chaos in Congress jeopardizes Biden’s efforts to re-up ties with Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands.

The Chinese navy and maritime militia are using water cannons, laser dazzlers, and harassing tactics to try to push smaller nations out of the area.

Veteran diplomat Mark Lambert will lead the new “China House.”

Can rising enemies bring old frenemies together?

Diplomats need more money to counter the other superpower in the Indo-Pacific, but they may have to wait.

A new report warns China has some big advantages over the U.S.

The lack of a long-term vision keeps Washington’s China policies confused.

Team Biden’s split-screen messaging on China at home versus abroad may pay off.

With the big sub deal in hand, it’s no longer Miller time.

The Pentagon’s top military command charged with countering China believes it’s getting shortchanged—again.

The story of how decades of U.S. engagement with China gave way to estrangement.

You can’t lay a string of pearls if you can’t get full access.

A congressional commission wants Biden to rethink the trade relationship with China.

China has slashed military-to-military talks and climate dialogues after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit.

The U.S. House speaker puts both Washington and Beijing in a bind.

The 30-nation alliance is worried about a growing strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow.

Decoupling is all the rage. But a strong dollar and long-term corporate ties make the relationship as co-dependent as ever.

One of the United States’ oldest security partners in Asia is increasingly marching to Beijing’s music.

“This meeting is in part about setting guardrails on the relationship,” a senior U.S. defense official said.

A landmark report on human rights in China was delayed six months over a behind-the-scenes impasse on LGBTQ rights.

Fifty years later, Washington may be reversing a diplomatic masterstroke by driving Beijing and Moscow together.

More than 30 experts grade the U.S. president’s first year of foreign policy.

China’s new airports and highways near the border have put officials on edge.

Deeper U.S. engagement comes as the wisdom of strategic ambiguity is increasingly questioned.

Not for the first time, the U.S. president misspoke about the island at the center of U.S.-China tensions.

Breakthroughs remain elusive, but both sides agreed on need to manage tensions.

Beijing warned U.S. lawmakers the trip would erode the “One China” status quo.

Heated words, frank conversations, and little end in sight to the world’s biggest showdown.

Biden continues Trump’s “porcupine strategy” to harden the island’s defenses.

China prepares to fight and win a war against the United States, the U.S. Defense Department said in its annual review.

Moderates want to give U.S. President Joe Biden more war powers to stave off a Chinese invasion. Progressives don’t agree.

Some fear larger State Department China desk could be a “massive bureaucratic blob.”

The Biden administration is hoping to rotate fighters and bombers to the land Down Under.

The informal deal offers common ground with Beijing and a blow to Myanmar’s hopes of legitimacy.

Although close to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Qin Gang doesn’t quite fit the mold of hostile Chinese diplomacy.

The United States has a new lens for its rivalry with China.

Yet more turnover at the Pentagon for the administration.

Biden and Merkel will make all the right noises at their meeting this week. But deep transatlantic tensions persist.

The Biden administration ships millions of vaccines to the region as its public health crisis worsens.

If the region continues to drift toward China, Washington has only itself to blame.

No, a complete withdrawal will not ease the U.S. pivot to China.

But can he get them to act, too?

Beijing is snapping up Ukrainian defense firms. That bodes ill for the would-be NATO member.

The United States is providing hundreds of thousands of vaccines right in China’s front yard.

Geopolitical shifts have put a U.S.-Russian detente in the interest of much of Asia.

Military leaders want to “seize the initiative” against China.

The Defense Department is in an internal tug of war over the practicality of putting more U.S. troops in the range of Chinese missiles.

But experts say Duterte isn’t done courting China.

The United States says it’s ready to call China in a crisis. Will Beijing pick up?

Taiwan doesn’t have a U.S. embassy. But it’s got plenty of influence—and more to come.

“You face a two-front war where we don’t have a two-front military,” said one former Trump official.

The latest poorly defined buzzword in Washington is leading pundits and policymakers down a dangerous path.

The United States needs a game plan for a continent that’s home to two-thirds of the world’s population and its biggest rival.

A misguided theory of great-power competition will only lead to grief.

The new administration’s interim national security guidance gets many things right—but it has its shortcomings.

Top U.S. officials on trip to Asia under pressure to push back on Taiwan and maritime disputes.

The Biden administration wants to prod Japan more on defense and resolve tensions between Tokyo and Seoul.

It’s a smart step to counter China, but the next ones won’t be as easy.

The fledgling Indo-Pacific alliance needs a mission—and its only meaningful one is maritime security.

Biden should unite allies with a giant “Made in the Free World” project.

To counter China in the region, the United States should fight corruption and abuses while increasing investment and security cooperation.

U.S. strategists love grand proclamations—but ignore domestic political realities.

The best thing Biden can do is lighten up on China and let gravity take its toll.

The new administration, like previous ones, has a Middle East quagmire. But it’s trying some nuanced moves to break free.

As Washington ramps up to defend democracy, Beijing is still motivated mostly by geography.

The Western alliance is unprepared to counter the direct and growing challenge from Beijing.

From Afghanistan to China, the new administration seems likely to hold on to some ideas from the previous one.

Biden has a hard choice to make regarding Trump’s limits on airliner tech.

The administration is moving quickly to reassert U.S. leadership but needs Beijing’s support for major initiatives.

A line-by-line analysis of the president’s remarks at the State Department.

Washington should get back in the trade game and use it as leverage against Beijing.

But Biden and his team are likely to resist using Taiwan as a cudgel against China the way Trump did.

Avril Haines vowed to keep politics out of intelligence.

From climate change to China to ending the forever wars, here are 10 of the biggest challenges facing the Biden foreign-policy team as it takes office.

The appointment of Kurt Campbell as Biden’s right hand on Asia will supercharge the incoming administration’s policy to counter China.

The world stepped up while the United States stepped back from defending human rights. The next U.S. president should join them.

The incoming U.S. president must hold China and other countries accountable for religious persecution—and counter Beijing’s global campaign to destroy human rights.