Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

Xiangwei, W. (2026, September 6). Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3366098/heading-america-bridge-gap-us-china-relations?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-09-06 · by Wang Xiangwei

Quick Summary

The author, a Chinese journalist with 30 years of experience covering China, is traveling to the US as a senior visiting scholar at Harvard's Kennedy School to research US-China relations over the next year. The author notes that both American and Chinese citizens often delete sensitive information from their phones before traveling abroad due to concerns about being misunderstood or misconstrued. The author aims to interview thought leaders across the US political spectrum to understand their views on the future of US-China relations, which many perceive as heading towards conflict.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Wang Xiangwei, a journalist who has been covering China for over 30 years, is starting a year-long research project in America, specifically in Boston, to explore where the friction between the US and China ends and their shared interests begin. Before leaving for the US, Wang spent three days scrubbing his phone of sensitive information, including deleting old emails, screenshots, and WeChat threads, following advice given to Chinese travelers to avoid any potential misinterpretation by American officials or media. Wang will be taking up a senior visiting scholar position at the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he aims to sit down with American thought leaders and map out areas of shared interest between the two superpowers.

Written for “US China Diplomatic Relations” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US China Diplomatic Relations
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 22% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
US ramps up China rhetoric ahead of upcoming meeting different event · 80%
Semafor
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 20% hedged 1 of 5 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes a personal experience of preparing for travel to Boston, while Article B discusses the escalating rhetoric between US and China before an upcoming meeting, which may or may not be related to Article A's event”
Feds accuse China of industrial-scale theft of America’s AI secrets different event · 80%
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 3 of 11 📰 publisher trust 59
“The articles describe two separate and distinct events: one about a journalist researching US-China relations and another about Chinese AI firms accused of industrial-scale theft”
Colby Cosh: Canada’s secret meeting with the Chinese military different event · 80%
National Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 27 📰 publisher trust 60
“The events take place in different countries (America and Ottawa) with different attendees, making them likely related but distinct incidents”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
9
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
22%
2 of 9 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Wang Xiangwei
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations In a year-long research across America, I hope to map where superpower friction ends, and where shared interest must begin Before boarding my flight to Boston late last month, I spent the better part of three days doing something I never imagined I would do in more than 30 years of covering China: scrubbing my phone.
2026-09-06 · mixed framing · Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations
Also by Wang Xiangwei
How the ‘G2’ effect of Trump-Xi summit is reverberating through Asia
2026-10-04 · South China Morning Post
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

America American Boston China Chinese

Subjects

America GPE · 3× American NORP · 3× China GPE · 3× Beijing GPE · 1× Boston ORG · 1× Chinese NORP · 1× Washington GPE · 1× the Harvard Kennedy School ORG · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations In a year-long research across America, I hope to map where superpower friction ends, and where shared interest must begin Before boarding my flight to Boston late last month, I spent the better part of three days doing something I never imagined I would do in more than 30 years of covering China: scrubbing my phone.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06
🔮 Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations In a year-long research across America, I hope to map where superpower friction ends, and where shared interest must begin Before boarding my flight to Boston late last month, I spent the better part of three days doing something I never imagined I would do in more than 30 years of covering China: scrubbing my phone.
2026-09-06 · South China Morning Post
Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations · mixed framing

Claims (9 extracted, 2 hedged)

Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations In a year-long research across America, I hope to map where superpower friction ends, and where shared interest must begin Before boarding my flight to Boston late last month, I spent the better part of three days doing something I never imagined I would do in more than 30 years of covering China: scrubbing my phone. asserted
I → head → phone
Old emails, screenshots, WeChat threads that might be read the wrong way, anything that could be misconstrued in an airport interview room – all deleted, just in case. uncertain
all → read → case
I was following advice now routinely passed among Chinese travellers to the United States: carry a clean phone, or better yet, a burner. asserted
I → follow → phone
American officials, academics and business travellers headed into China have long been told the same thing. asserted
officials → head → thing
Two sets of citizens, one shared instinct – that what is on your phone could get you into trouble on the other side. uncertain
is → share → side
Beginning this month, I take up a one-year appointment as a senior visiting scholar at the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the Harvard Kennedy School. asserted
I → begin → School
My purpose is straightforward to state and harder to fulfil: to sit down with American thought leaders across the political spectrum and ask them where they think this relationship is headed, and whether conflict is as inevitable as it now appears. asserted
it → state → them
Layered on top were structural anxieties. asserted
anxieties → layer → top
In Beijing, there is a mirror-image worry: that a declining but still-dominant America, unwilling to accept the reality of a rising China, is bent on containing its development, through tariffs, technology export controls and alliances built for that purpose. asserted
America → be → purpose
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