The past two weeks of turmoil and drama in Sino-American affairs may well be the new normal, not an exception to an otherwise placid bilateral relationship. While Friday brought news of a possible deal allowing dissident Chen Guangcheng to leave China to study in America, that deal is no more certain than the earlier, failed deal, announced just days before

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to China this week for yearly strategic consultations, a daring bid for political asylum has highlighted the seething dissent beneath China’s surface stability.

What matters for China is not whether Westerners believe the system is cracking. The question is: How do the Chinese view their own system?

The removal of a top Communist party official doesn’t tell us much.

Shared wariness over China is the main reason the U.S. and Vietnam have embraced each other. But it shouldn’t be the only one.

As China grows less predictable and the United States less willing to shoulder its responsibilities, familiar patterns of bilateral relations must change.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

For East Asian politicos, there’s not that much to grab headline attention in the world’s most economically dynamic region. Or maybe there is.