The U.S.-China contest (I): A clash of visions and the chain of escalatory reactions

In order to fully comprehend the origins and implications of the gathering storm over the post-2010 U.S.-China contest, we need to tackle two totally different ways of interpreting the perceived reality, between Washington and Beijing. Here, let us recall an adage made famous by Immanuel Kant, that the facts we perceive may not be the same as the facts-in-themselves. The word "vision" here refers, specifically, to the idiosyncratic perception of the facts, respectively from the U.S. and the Chinese standpoints. This point merits special attention because decision makers react only to their perceived reality, as exists in their vision, not to the true reality, the facts-in-themselves.