Sino-U.S. Power Play and the Qin Qi Conundrum

Taiyi Sun is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Christopher Newport University. He is the lead author of The Myth of War in the Taiwan Strait: Elite Perspectives from Beijing, Taipei, and Washington, amid the YiZhou Dilemma (Lexington 2025), the author of Disruptions as Opportunities: Governing Chinese Society with Interactive Authoritarianism (University of Michigan Press 2023), and is a co-editor and chapter author of Teaching Civic Engagement Globally, a book published by the American Political Science Association in 2021. His work has appeared in leading academic journals and publishers including International Relations, PS: Political Science & Politics, Politics and Society, the China Quarterly, China Information, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Journal of Contemporary China, Made in China, Contemporary American Review, Japan Studies, Routledge, University of Michigan Press, Australia National University Press, and World Scientific Reference.Sun appears regularly on over a dozen domestic and international media outlets as a TV commentator, columnist, and expert analyst. He serves as the executive editor of the Global Forum of Chinese Political Scientists' main publication, Global China (海外看世界), and is the founder of a daily Mandarin-language political briefing, Inside the Beltway (华府圈). He received his Ph.D. from Boston University. Please visit his personal website for more details: www.taiyisun.com

"A bold, groundbreaking work that redefines China–U.S. relations through the lens of the ancient Chinese Qin-Qi rivalry, revealing how ambiguity, reciprocal vulnerability, and order-succession generate stability amid competition. Essential reading for understanding power transition beyond the Thucydides Trap."- Cheng Li, Professor and Director of the Centre on Contemporary China and the World, The University of Hong Kong"Professor Taiyi Sun has written a bold and original book to challenge the inevitability of great power conflict by revealing how rivalry can be managed through ambiguity, interdependence, and institutional adaptation. Bridging ancient Chinese history and contemporary Sino–U.S. relations, it offers a compelling framework for understanding how global order can transform without catastrophic war. Strongly recommended."- Suisheng Zhao, Professor of International Studies, University of Denver, and Editor, Journal of Contemporary China "Blending Chinese historical insight with innovative international relations analysis, Taiyi Sun powerfully reframes U.S.–China competition by showing that power transition unfolds through ambiguity, reciprocal vulnerability, and order-succession rise—not inevitable war—offering an original account of a global order in transition.” - Xiaoyu Pu, University of Nevada, Reno

• Section One: Introduction Chapter 1: The Seeds of a Complex Relationship: Qin-Qi Conundrum and the Puzzle of Power Transition Section Two: Sino-U.S. Relations from the Two Perspectives Chapter 2: The Evolution of Chinese Foreign Policy Toward the U.S. Chapter 3: The Evolution and Destabilization of U.S. Foreign Policy Towards China Section Three: The Three Phases of the Qin-Qi Conundrum Chapter 4: Phase I of the Qin–Qi Conundrum: Stability through Ambiguity Chapter 5: Phase II of the Qin–Qi Conundrum: Mutually Assured Economic Destruction, and Reciprocal Vulnerability Interdependence Chapter 6: Phase III of the Qin-Qi Conundrum: Order-Succession Rise and the Transformation of International Order Section Four: Conclusion Chapter 7: The Qin-Qi Conundrum and the Future of Global Leadership Bibliography