Being an “enemy of China” is a disconcerting experience. About 10 years ago I inadvertently slipped into this role, when I wrote a cover story for The Economist headlined: “Containing China”.

The Chinese were irked by this use of “cold war vocabulary”. On a trip to Beijing at the time, I struggled to justify my unhelpful attitude – a task that was made more difficult by the fact that many of the officials I met seemed unable to grasp the distinction between the words “contain” and “destroy”. I remember struggling to illustrate the difference at an official banquet, with the aid of a glass of water. The glass, I pointed out, contained the liquid – but it did not attack it. My audience looked sceptical.