It seems like a good time to slow down and have a think about how we got here, what actually is going on, and, with a little bit of luck, perhaps think about some ways to craft a viable way forward.

David Kelly, head of research at China Policy, offers an alternative approach that examines the nature of Chinese identity, or rather, Chinese identities, plural, and how they exhibit themselves in Chinese foreign policy.

During the campaign Donald Trump talked about China and the Asia-Pacific region, often in caustic language, but he only gave little snippets of his potential policy toward the region. Greater tensions are highly likely, but not guaranteed.

The last U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) of the Obama administration is now behind us, raising a number of questions as we look ahead to next year: What purpose does this dialogue serve in the U.S.-China relationship? Is it worth continuing, should it...