The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations

by Daniel Yergin

The continuing rancor over the coronavirus and its origins in Wuhan made relations worse. And then, in May 2020, after months of demonstrations in Hong Kong, some violent, Beijing imposed its security laws and security systems on the semiautonomous Hong Kong. China was abrogating the concept of “one country, two systems,” which had been the governing principle since the British handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Beijing asserted that this was a purely “internal” matter. The international reaction was strong. By coincidence, at almost exactly the same time, the White House issued a new strategy on China. “Beijing,” it said, was “seeking to transform the international order to align with” the communist party’s “interests and ideology.” In response, the administration has adopted “a competitive approach,” which includes “a tolerance of greater bilateral friction.” The friction would continue to increase.