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When U.S. President Donald Trump visited Beijing in May, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that the U.S. and China should build a “constructive relationship of strategic stability.” At their September meeting in Washington, they reaffirmed that framework and specified that it should rest on respect, fairness, and reciprocity. The leaders were not declaring an end to competition but acknowledging something more realistic: Competition needs a political framework to prevent it from drifting toward confrontation.

What exactly is strategic stability supposed to stabilize?

When U.S. President Donald Trump visited Beijing in May, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that the U.S. and China should build a “constructive relationship of strategic stability.” At their September meeting in Washington, they reaffirmed that framework and specified that it should rest on respect, fairness, and reciprocity. The leaders were not declaring an end to competition but acknowledging something more realistic: Competition needs a political framework to prevent it from drifting toward confrontation.

What exactly is strategic stability supposed to stabilize?

A more useful definition starts with the boundaries of competition: how it is conducted, what ends it serves, and how far it is allowed to spread. The two sides can compete intensely without their chief objective being to undermine each other. They can take security measures without turning every........

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