Yet the issue hinges on how to define interests and security. To some analysts, the answer is to “decouple,” to separate the American and Chinese economies. Yet it is also important to US global power for American companies to maintain their international competitiveness and, like it or not, others argue that this necessity requires a strong American business presence in China, the world’s second-largest economy. “You have to be a leader in China, if you are to be a global leader,” Craig Allen, the president of the US-China Business Council, told me.