Prof Joseph Chinyong Liow, NTU Dean of College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Tan Kah Kee Chair in Comparative and International Politics, RSIS, wrote in his commentary that as the bipartisan anti-China drumbeat grows louder, the Trump administration is firing on all cylinders to dial up the pressure on Beijing across a whole range of issues. A gloomy cloud of pessimism hangs over all our heads as relations between the two largest economies in the world continue careening downhill with no off-ramp in sight. Framing this rivalry in the language of race and civilisation however, will not be helpful, for it raises more questions than answers.