Competitors that are neither friends nor foes

Editor's note: The international situation will probably worsen and the bilateral strategic competition between China and the United States will be more ferocious this year, said Yan Xuetong, a researcher of international relations at the Beijing-based Tsinghua University, in his recent interview with China Newsweek. The following are excerpts from his responses to questions on Sino-US relationship and the global situation:

If all US presidents are classified into two categories, Donald Trump belongs to one category alone, and all the others belong to the other. The change of thoughts of the leadership of the world's strongest country strengthens many people's impression that the world is now different from before.

That the US takes the initiative to discard liberalism, and embrace unilateralism and protectionism, instills a feeling of uncertainty in many people. The frictions and conflicts between the world's two largest economies, which started more than 10 years ago, have become acute, which is another concern.