API Geoeconomic Briefing is a series provided by the Asia Pacific Initiative, an independent think tank based in Tokyo. The series will look into geopolitical and economic trends in the post-COVID-19 world, with a particular focus on technology and innovation, global supply chains, international rule-making and climate change.

Amid the escalating feud between the United States and China, Washington is stepping up its responses toward Beijing based on the idea of reciprocity, which is granting another country equivalent treatment in return for the treatment it gives in terms of diplomatic and trade policies.

In a statement titled “Advancing Reciprocity in U.S.-China Diplomatic Relations” that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released on Sept. 2, he said that the U.S. will tighten restrictions on the activities of Chinese diplomats in the country under the principle of reciprocity.