“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”  A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

As 2020 ends and the festive season is dampened by a growing number of COVID-19 infections, one might say “Bah Humbug” to an unforgettable year that one might wish to forget. What does 2021 hold for the world beyond COVID-19 and the future of the US-China relationship? Will the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come be “dark and mysterious”, “faceless” and present “the unknown, and the fear inherent” or can the world come together again for a better Christmas in 2021?

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