No let up in cold war What is Joe Biden up to? Daniel Lazare looks at the wild allegations against Xi Jinping and China The US-China cold war has been simmering since at least 2016, when Beijing turned thumbs down on an international judicial ruling, denying it jurisdiction over a dozen or so low-lying islands and reefs in the South China Sea. But it has gotten hotter and hotter since Joe Biden took office on January 20 and let it be known that there would be no let-up in trade sanctions or a US propaganda offensive charging China with anti-Uyghur genocide in the western province of Xinjiang.