The year of 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and the US.
Over the past four decades, the two countries have become increasingly intertwined. But as China has grown into the world’s second-largest economy, aiming for the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” while the Trump administration vows to “make America great again,” tensions have been building on economic and strategic fronts. The ongoing trade friction and the US’s designation of China as a strategic rival have overshadowed their hard-earned ties.
It seems that the US-China relationship, arguably the world’s most important, is now at the crossroads. Whether the two countries can find a solution to continued cooperation and avoid the catastrophic Thucydides trap induced by miscalculation and human folly will have a major impact on the entire world economically, politically and strategically, in the following years.
NewsChina takes a look at the significant players and events over the past 40 years that illustrate how we arrived at this moment, with hopes of long-lasting peace and prosperity for all.
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