This week, we feature two reports published under our China-US-Asia Dialogue project and our latest edition of The Pulse.

Rukmani Gupta assesses the evolving narratives and misperceptions around the ‘economic decoupling’ rhetoric between the United States and China. And Jian Junbo draws attention to an important but often overlooked element in US-China relations: the role of scholars.

Also in a new edition of The Pulse, Tatsujiro Suzuki and Sadia Tasleem reflect on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ decision to set its famous Doomsday Clock to its closest position before midnight ever. We also highlight members’ activities below.

Rukmani Gupta, an independent defence analyst, assesses the evolving narratives and misperceptions around ‘economic decoupling’ between the United States and China, arguing that these can have serious consequences for the China-US relationship and for other states in the region. Gupta argues that these official narratives impact public perceptions, contributing to public opinion polls in both countries that show worsening public attitudes towards the other country in recent years.

Jian Junbo, Deputy Director for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University, draws attention to an important but under-addressed element in US-China relations: the role of scholars. He highlights several challenges to scholarship in China-US relations: restrictions on scholarly interactions and exchanges, the influence of nationalism, the lack of Chinese language skills in the US, and the lack of access to information for Chinese scholars.

Several reports in the China-US-Asia Dialogue project are now available in Chinese translation as well as other selected languages.

APLN members Sadia Tasleem, Lecturer for Defense and Strategic Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University, and Tatsujiro Suzuki, former Vice Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, reflect on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ decision to set its famous Doomsday Clock to its closest position before midnight ever.