The idea that stability of the sacred “relationship” is an end in and of itself — this is actually Beijing’s talking point that too many in the US have inadvertently adopted as a false metric of success. It has led many outgoing Biden admin folks to claim they achieved some sort of high water mark in deterring Beijing’s aggression. What about salt/volt typhoon, record-high levels of military operations around Taiwan, overt support to Russia’s war in Europe, etc?