Even in the face of such unprecedented unrest within the very heart of America’s democracy, its elected representatives resolved to fulfil their constitutional duties and affirm the will of the people.

The museum has once again become intertwined with a larger political and emotional conversation about Taiwanese identity, the legacy of the martial law era and the future of the island.

Asian-American voters strongly supported Biden even though neither political party actively reached out to them. Now is the time for the president-elect to recognise that loyalty and include more Asian-Americans in his governing team.

Despite his declared friendship with Xi Jinping, a look at the US president-elect’s career in Congress shows he has a deep background as a China hawk. Biden is likely to conduct the US-China relationship with more composure than his predecessor, but the bombast of the Trump era will not go away completely.

In the past century, the US presidency has gone through periods of uncertainty, but the institution has always persevered. Faith in the presidency may wax and wane, but one thing is certain: Americans will have the chance to vote again.

A lack of interest in courting the Asian vote has been disappointing, and out of proportion with the impact it wields in swing states. It’s up to Asians themselves to step up their political engagement, not just by voting, but also seeking office.

Pompeo’s rhetoric is aimed at the American public, rather than building relations with foreign nations or advancing US interests abroad. In a globalised society, the effects of foreign policy decisions on security and the economy cannot be understated.

The departure of Branstad, whose ties with Xi Jinping go back to the 1980s, may signal the end of personal diplomacy. And, with US-China relations cooling, his successor is likely to hold more hawkish views.

Decades of China engagement failed, according to Pompeo, because China did not liberalise as US leaders had anticipated. However, Nixon’s opening to China in 1972 had nothing to do with spreading democracy but was entirely about gaining the upper hand in the Cold War.

As the Covid-19 pandemic ravages the world and the US-China relationship deteriorates, we should take heart from the fact that the Sino-Japanese War eventually ended and, at one time, the US and China were fierce allies.

Considering how Asian-Americans are increasingly part of the social and political conversation, their lack of representation in mass media is jarring. It remains to be seen whether the reckoning on racial relations will extend to the diverse Asian population.

The finessed language of diplomacy has given way to hashtags and zingers between US State Department hawks and China’s ‘wolf warriors’. But diplomacy rarely succeeds when executed over a microphone.

The sanctions have no real bite and the bill does little other than show commitment to a ‘hard’ policy on China ahead of House elections in November. No amount of sanctions, threats or editorials will stand in the way of Beijing protecting its sovereignty.

The assertive approach to international relations Xi Jinping has advocated since coming into power has not won Beijing any friends. Instead, the roadblocks and resistance it has encountered signal the need for a rethink.

The outrage of the US has never made Xi Jinping change his behaviour. If anything, it has only emboldened him. The national security law resolution is part of a broader strategy to reassert China’s territorial integrity.

From the Burlingame treaty to the Cairo conference, the US respected Chinese rights, and bilateral ties have been at their best when diplomacy was conducted by professionals. The disgraceful trading of barbs between non-diplomats and on social media is a new low.

Beijing failed to go public with the true scale of the pandemic, hampering other nations’ ability to respond in time. China’s rise on the global stage was made possible by the goodwill of the rest of the world, and trust that had been hard earned should not be so easily squandered.

The Cold War created a void filled by propaganda and cultural misunderstanding for an entire generation in the US and China. The best way to prevent misunderstanding is to improve education on both sides rather than kick out reporters.

Trump has stirred up the toxic pot of partisanship politics even as Xi’s leadership style exacerbated the coronavirus crisis. But there is strength in America’s political system: it gives voters the right to criticise and select their leaders.

The US reported its first coronavirus case soon after Beijing broke its silence on the disease, indicating how many Americans travel to China. The disease has also highlighted the need to overcome the mistrust of and racism towards Chinese in the US.

After six months of protests in Hong Kong, the new year has brought more chaos, with Tsai Ing-wen winning an election in Taiwan and disease spreading in Wuhan. Perhaps President Xi Jinping should recognise China needs new leadership.

Things may seem dark but Hong Kong has seen worse. And when the protests end, the city will need its best and brightest to rebuild Hong Kong into a free and peaceful hub of ideas and commerce, and a special gateway between East and West.

The US is mired in a 18-year war with Afghanistan, possibly because it has failed to recognise it can’t construct peace and democracy without considering a region’s culture and history. US leaders must not make the same mistake with China.

Russia has little to offer China, other than a means to antagonise the US. Xi’s courtship of Moscow makes no sense because it ignores the animosity that has defined Sino-Russian relations since the Treaty of Nerchinsk in the 17th century.

What Beijing has failed to grasp is that the West doesn’t need to interfere in Hong Kong for its cultural influence to be felt. While Hong Kong’s importance to China may have waned, it will always have a special place in the world.

For decades, US presidents have sought to maintain stable bilateral relations through their personal ties with Chinese leaders. However, Chinese ambassadors today are neither close to their US counterparts nor to Beijing.

The blood and strife of history belie the orderly narrative of the founding of the People’s Republic, with a civil war that was neither glorious nor heroic. Today’s leaders were all born after 1949 while yesterday’s leaders understood the struggle, dedication and sacrifice of becoming New China.

Relationships with Taiwan, the US and Hong Kong threaten not only the stability of China, but its very survival. It remains to be seen whether President Xi can resolve these inherited problems and make China strong again.

The Hong Kong protests have been used as political leverage by pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and the US media. But the young people of Hong Kong can gain little from the continued chaos and media glorification.

While China policy is one of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans converge, the trade war divides the field of US presidential candidates into the moderates who are friendly to free trade and the critics of China’s practices.