Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

It is not clear why Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, chose Qin Gang as foreign minister, given that he is not a U.S. expert. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
Biden's branding of Xi as 'dictator' threatens plans for big trip to San Francisco