If China, US continue their tit-for-tat policy, everybody will lose

Things are getting worse. That’s a conclusion one might have reasonably reached after reading this week’s US-China headlines.

First, there was Hong Kong, a matter Beijing has warned Washington to stay clear of. Protesters last weekend battled police, vandalized shops and paralyzed swaths of the Asia financial center. Then President Donald Trump tied outcomes in Hong Kong to trade.

Next, as China’s top trade negotiator prepared to travel to Washington for a new round of talks, the US blacklisted eight prominent Chinese tech firms. In explaining the action, the US cited the companies’ involvement in China’s westernmost Xinjiang province, where up to