The relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States of America (USA) has been complex and at times tense since the establishment of the PRC and the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949. Since the normalization of relations in the 1970s,the US–China relationship has been marked by numerous perennial disputes including the political status of Taiwan,territorial disputes in the South China Sea,and more recently the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. They have significant economic ties and are significantly intertwined,yet they also have a global hegemonic great power rivalry. As of 2025,China and the United States are the world's second-largest and largest economies by nominal GDP,as well as the largest and second-largest economies by GDP (PPP) respectively. Collectively,they account for 44.2% of the global nominal GDP,and 34.7% of global PPP-adjusted GDP.
William Egan Colby was an American intelligence officer who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from September 1973 to January 1976.
Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests in the long-term. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of military doctrine,force structure and alliances,as well as economic relations,diplomatic behavior,and methods to extract or mobilize resources.
John Joseph Mearsheimer is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.
The First Taiwan Strait Crisis was a brief armed conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) focused on several ROC-held islands a few miles from the Chinese mainland in the Taiwan Strait.
The United States foreign policy toward the People's Republic of China originated during the Cold War. At that time,the U.S. had a containment policy against communist states. The leaked Pentagon Papers indicated the efforts by the U.S. to contain China through military actions undertaken in the Vietnam War. The containment policy centered around an island chain strategy. President Richard Nixon's China rapprochement signaled a shift in focus to gain leverage in containing the Soviet Union. Formal diplomatic ties between the U.S. and China were established in 1979,and with normalized trade relations since 2000,the U.S. and China have been linked by closer economic ties and more cordial relations. In his first term as U.S. president,Barack Obama said,"We want China to succeed and prosper. It's good for the United States if China continues on the path of development that it's on".
Michael Jonathan Green is an American Japanologist currently serving as CEO of the United States Studies Centre and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a member of Radio Free Asia's board of directors and Center for a New American Security (CNAS)'s board of advisors.
After the United States established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1979 and recognized Beijing as the only legal government of China,Taiwan–United States relations became unofficial and informal following terms of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA),which allows the United States to have relations with the Taiwanese people and their government,whose name is not specified. U.S.–Taiwan relations were further informally grounded in the Six Assurances in response to the third communiquéon the establishment of US–PRC relations. The Taiwan Travel Act,passed by the U.S. Congress on March 16,2018,allows high-level U.S. officials to visit Taiwan and vice versa. Both sides have since signed a consular agreement formalizing their existent consular relations on September 13,2019. The US government removed self-imposed restrictions on executive branch contacts with Taiwan on January 9,2021.
Michael Paul Pillsbury is a foreign policy strategist,author,and former public official in the United States. He was appointed in December 2020 to be the chair of the Defense Policy Board at the U.S. Department of Defense. He is also a senior fellow for China strategy at The Heritage Foundation and has been director of the Center on Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute in Washington,D.C.,since 2014. Before Hudson,he held various postings in the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Senate. He has been called a "China-hawk",and an "architect" of Trump's policy towards China. In 2018,he was described by Donald Trump as the leading authority on the country.
U.S. President Barack Obama's East Asia Strategy (2009–2017),also known as the Pivot to Asia,represented a significant shift in the foreign policy of the United States since the 2010s. It shifted the country's focus away from the Middle Eastern and European sphere and allowed it to invest heavily and build relationships in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries,especially countries which are in close proximity to the People's Republic of China (PRC) either economically,geographically or politically to counter its rise as a rival potential superpower.
Paul Thomas Haenle is an American analyst and China specialist currently serving as Maurice R. Greenberg Director’s Chair at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Dmitri Alperovitch is an American think-tank founder,author,philanthropist,podcast host and former computer security industry executive. He is the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator,a geopolitics think-tank in Washington,D.C.,and a co-founder and former chief technology officer of CrowdStrike. Alperovitch is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia who immigrated from the country in 1994 with his family.
The Trump–Tsai call was a telephone conversation between the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the President of the Republic of China Tsai Ing-wen which took place on December 2,2016. This event marked the first time since 1979 that a U.S. president or President-elect had directly spoken with a ROC President. In the call,Tsai congratulated Trump for his victory in the presidential election. The two leaders spoke for around 10 minutes,focusing on politics,economy,and security in Asia-Pacific. Following the call,Trump publicized this on Twitter and Facebook and said thank you to "the President of Taiwan". After Trump's transition team confirmed the event,the Presidential Office of Taiwan released a statement about the content of the call.
U.S. foreign policy during the first presidency of Donald Trump was noted for its unpredictability and reneging on prior international commitments,upending diplomatic conventions,embracing political and economic brinkmanship with most adversaries,and stronger relations with traditional allies. Trump's "America First" policy pursued nationalist foreign policy objectives and prioritized bilateral relations over multinational agreements. As president,Trump described himself as a nationalist and a globalist while espousing views that have been characterized as isolationist,non-interventionist,and protectionist,although the "isolationist" label has been disputed,including by Trump himself,and periods of his political career have been described by the alternative term "semi-isolationist." He personally praised some populist,neo-nationalist,illiberal,and authoritarian governments,while antagonizing others,even as administration diplomats nominally continued to pursue pro-democracy ideals abroad.
Aaron Wess Mitchell is an American foreign policy expert and former diplomat who was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from October 2017 until February 2019. Prior to assuming the role at State Department,he was president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis. On July 19,2017,President Donald Trump nominated Mitchell as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Michael George Glen Waltz is an American politician,businessman,author,and colonel for the 20th Special Forces Group within the Florida Army National Guard who is the 29th and current U.S. National Security Advisor. He previously served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district from 2019 to 2025. He is a member of the Republican Party and is the first "Green Beret" to be elected to the United States Congress.
US-China strategic engagement refers to a wide range of specific practices and interaction including economic cooperation,public diplomacy,military and foreign aid between the United States and China. This phase of engagement can be traced back to the late 1960s following an intense period of hostility caused by indirect confrontation between the two countries,particularly during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. With the US' support for Taiwan during the Taiwan Strait crises and its military expansion in the Pacific region,the relationship grew more antagonistic for the Chinese government perceive these initiatives to be US' attempt to encircle China. The domestic upheaval as a result of the Cultural Revolution in China and its commitment to communism through political radicalism accelerated the conflict. The four presidencies preceding the Bush administration were said to embrace a national policy direction toward strategic ambiguity,or deliberate ambiguity particularly in dealing with China. In October 2018,Vice President Mike Pence delivered a speech at the Hudson Institute on China,signifying the end of strategic engagement and officially proclaiming a new stage in the bilateral relationship,strategic competition.
The foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration emphasizes the repair of the United States' alliances,which Biden argues were damaged during the first Trump administration. The administration's goal is to restore the United States to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address challenges posed by Russia and China. Both Biden and his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have repeatedly emphasized that no other world power should be able to surpass the United States,either militarily or economically. Biden's foreign policy has been described as having ideological underpinnings in mid-twentieth century liberal internationalism,American exceptionalism,and pragmatism.
The United States Department of Defense China Task Force was announced by the United States president Joe Biden on February 10,2021. Biden said the task force would help the United States "win the competition of the future" with China. According to the DOD News service,the task force will be led by Ely Ratner,an assistant to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III. On the day the task force was announced,Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that China sought cooperation with the United States,but that confrontation would be "definitely catastrophic for both countries and the world."
Ivan J. Kanapathy is a retired United States Marine Corps officer currently serving as senior director for Asia at the National Security Council (NSC) in the second Trump administration. Prior to returning to the White House,he was senior vice president of Beacon Global Strategies,an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service,a senior associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),and a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Between March 2018 and July 2021,he was director for China,Taiwan,and Mongolia and deputy senior director for Asian affairs at the NSC.
