Sino-US relations need not take such a turn. On most contemporary issues, the two countries cooperate adequately; what the two countries lack is an overarching concept for their interaction. During the Cold War, a common adversary supplied the bond.

Sino-US relations need not take such a turn. On most contemporary issues, the two countries cooperate adequately; what the two countries lack is an overarching concept for their interaction. During the Cold War, a common adversary supplied the bond. Common concepts have not yet emerged from the multiplicity of new tasks facing a globalized world undergoing political, economic and technological upheaval.

中美关系不必如此。在大多数当代问题上，两国能充分合作；它们缺少的是一个总体上的互动理念。冷战时期，有一个共同的对手发挥了纽带作用。而我们这个全球化的世界正在经历着政治、经济和技术的剧变，对于它所面临的形形色色的新任务，尚未显现出共识。