The US and China relationship just reached its most dangerous point in history, and it couldn't have come at a worse time

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• After China passed legislation to allow its security forces to patrol Hong Kong, President Trump announced that the US would retaliate with a range of measures, from studying Chinese companies on US stock exchanges, to sanctioning individuals in Hong Kong and China who "erode Hong Kong's autonomy."
• This is merely the culmination of months of heated action and rhetoric between the two countries since the coronavirus pandemic reached the US. And it is dangerous for the entire world.
• To fight the pandemic on both domestic and global scales the US and China need each other now more than ever.
• The US needs supplies made in China's factories to fight the virus, and China desperately needs US markets open to rebuild its economy.
• Neither country is adjusting its diplomacy to that reality. Hostility will continue to rise. Flashpoints are multiplying, and Trump intends to make China the boogeyman of his reelection campaign. Strap in, America.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There comes a moment in all close relationships when both parties must decide whether they will work through their problems together, or if they will engage with those problems in a state of open hostility. The US and China — in the midst of a global health catastrophe and facing the worst economic crisis since World War II — have chosen the path of open hostility.

This week The People's Republic of China irrevocably changed Hong Kong. It passed legislation to allow its security forces to operate there, a move condemned the world over as an encroachment on Hong Kong's freedom.

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• American businesses need news from China. The White House is in the way.
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• You can vote for Joe Biden without discrediting Tara Reade

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