尽管如此，在美国有一些人似乎想促使世界上最大的两个经济体“脱钩”，减少相互依存，以期阻碍或至少滞迟中国的进步。他们提出的要求如此极端，以致于似乎这套设计的目的就是，让中国除了对抗并卷入代价高昂的世界权力博弈之外，别无选择。

　　Despite this, some in the US seem to be hoping to “decouple” the world's two biggest economies, to reduce their interdependence and hamper or at least delay China's progress. The demands they've laid out are so extreme they seem designed to leave China no option but to choose confrontation and enter a high-cost power game.

　　但现实是，中美已在同一全球经济体系内相伴成长了40年，相互在经济结构上深层次的联系和互补性意味着，“脱钩”不可能立竿见影，即便不得已而发生，也要经历长期而痛苦的过程。而这对双方的经济和人民的福祉乃至全球经济可能造成的损害，恐怕是世界难以承受之重。

　　The truth is that China and the US have grown together, in the same global economic system, for 40 years. The deep connections and complementary economic structures mean that decoupling is not immediately possible. If it has to happen, it would probably involve a protracted and painful process, and the extent of the damage to each country and its people's well-being is hard to predict, as well as the damage to the world economy.

　　历史进程的方向性变化从来不是在哪个特定时间选定、抑或因某个特别事件发生的，而是在对诸多具体问题的应对和调整中，累积完成。只有在大势形成之后，人们才能观察到变化的全貌。从这个角度来看，中美现在的选择所产生的影响，将会在很长一段时间波澜不息。

　　Looking back at history, directional change is not made in a particular moment or through a single event but rather through the accumulation of many small adjustments to specific problems. The big picture only reveals itself later. In this light, the choices China and the US make now will reverberate for a long time to come.

　　如果中美两国共同努力，就能够取得重大成就。而如果两国对抗，不论对两国自身还是世界来说都有极大的危害。因此双方都需要避免误判彼此战略意图，否则就会陷入无果的恶性循环中。

　　If China and the US work together, they can achieve major successes. Confrontation, by contrast, would be enormously harmful for both countries and the wider world. American and Chinese leaders cannot afford to make misjudgments on the fundamental issue of each other's intentions, or we will all lose out in a fruitless downward spiral.