In the not-too-distant future, China is likely to surpass the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy, knocking us off a perch we’ve held for nearly 150 years. Increasingly, China has been flexing its newfound muscles in Asia and cracking down at home. It is also our biggest foreign creditor, owning nearly $1.3 trillion of Washington’s debt.

The U.S. and China have the most critical bilateral relationship in the world, and it serves America’s national security, economic health and environmental well-being to keep it strong. I’d like to suggest eight rules for dealing with China—offered not as a scholar or a theorist but as someone who has made more than 100 visits there and spent nearly 25 years dealing with senior Chinese officials.  Read more…