China has recently rebuffed attempts by the Biden administration to restart high level talks and lower tensions in Taiwan. Prof. Minxin Pei said it is possible that Beijing will re-engage with Washington once it feels it has more leverage. That could come after Beijing has deepened ties with more nonaligned countries like Brazil or after it has widened splits in Europe over how closely to follow the United States in its tougher stance toward China. “China wants to engage the U.S. from a position of strength, and China is clearly not in that position now. If anything, America’s success in rallying allies and waging the tech war against China proves that it is still far more powerful than China and has more tools at its disposal,” he said.