Reading the Sino-US rivalry: how a quiet literary relationship has shaped views on China

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Khushboo Razdan looks at how books shape public perceptions and inspire lifelong connections between the US and China even as their geopolitical rivalry intensifies.Alexander Boyd was 14 when a book about China altered the course of his life.Raised in a house overflowing with books in the small Massachusetts town of Acton, Boyd spent hours browsing his parents’ shelves in search of his next read.One title in particular caught his attention – China Wakes by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – a book chronicling China’s transformation under former leader Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms and opening up to the world.Then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and US president George H.W. Bush meet in Beijing on February 26, 1989. Photo: XinhuaBoyd said the book affected him profoundly.“The impact of reading it was immediate and shocking,” he recalled. He read it on the school bus and between classes, absorbed by the story of a country undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations in modern history.