Opinion A woman wearing a face mask enters a Huawei store with 5G signs at a shopping mall, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China, Aug. 3, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins. Rising Sino-American antagonism and Washington’s emphasis on restraining Beijing’s influence remind some scholars of the Cold War period. Historian Niall Ferguson, for example, has written that a new Cold War has begun. Such comparisons are tempting, but China — unlike the Cold War-era Soviet Union — is well placed in the globalized international environment and developing quickly. While some 21st century Western analysts have indulged in the wishful thinking that China would emulate the American model, Beijing has gone its own way.