These events were essentially domestic. But the central figure was until last month the occupant of the most powerful office in the world. Invoking the slogans of “Make America Great Again” and “America first”, he fanned anti-China sentiment and presided over a serious deterioration of bilateral relations including a trade war, turned much of decades of American leadership in multilateralism on its head and is identified with polarisation of domestic society. He maintains a hold over a large minority of his country and promises to pursue his “patriotic” mission.

The man who defeated him at the November election, President Joe Biden, has already set about reversing isolationism, notably on climate change, but conflicted and distrustful US-China relations cannot be put back on track overnight. Congress has shown that it remains capable of fulfilling its role as a check on the executive – thanks to seven brave Republicans.