That is the upheaval of the relationship between the U.S. and China, a pillar of the economic and political world order since the end of the Cold War. Any Chinese journalists who covered Xi Jinping the way U.S. newspapers cover Mr. Trump would soon disappear. I hoped that China’s economic development would open a path to peaceful and gradual political reform. Failing that, I hoped that common economic interests would lead both countries to avoid the kind of destructive rivalry that characterized the U.S.-Soviet relationship during the Cold War. The whole world must now hope that Beijing reconsiders its chosen path, not least for its own sake.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 18, 2020 17:25 UTC