Not only will this generation be spearheading policymaking in Beijing and Washington in three to four decades' time, more importantly, the attitudes, behaviors and decisions undertaken by this generation make them vital stakeholders in an increasingly acrimonious relationship dominated by talk of diplomatic boycotts and economic decoupling.
There are two trends worth noting about Gen Z on both sides of the Pacific. First, American zoomers are comparatively more positive about China than their Chinese peers feel about the U.S.
Yan Xuetong, director of Tsinghua University's international studies institute, told at a conference in Beijing in January that Chinese citizens born after 2000 are "overconfident" regarding their countries' defense and economic abilities and think of the West as unreservedly "evil" -- a narrative rooted in perceptions of structural racism and decline in the Anglosphere.
Behind this essentialist narrative are perhaps some legitimate grievances, but the role played by hyper-nationalistic and artificial amplification is often unduly overlooked in analyses.
In America, the picture is somewhat more positive when it comes to the youth. One poll conducted last year by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Bertelsmann Foundation found that only 39% of Americans aged 18 to 24-year-olds view Beijing's influence as negative.
The second trend worth noting is that zoomers in both countries show a clear divergence from older generations. In China, Generation Z harbors less favorable views toward America compared with those Chinese citizens whose teenage years coincided with China's economic reforms and its opening up to international capital.
Such disparities should not be solely attributed to the volume of Western media and ideals to which China's older reform generation was exposed but also to the fact that China has always benefited from more, not fewer, ties with the global economy. On the other hand, Gen Z youth in America remain significantly more open to collaborating with China over issues ranging from climate change to public health crises.
Students make their way through the Sather Gate at the University of California, Berkeley, on Mar. 29: Gen Z youth in America remain open to collaborating with China. © AP
This divergence between Gen Zs across the Pacific, and between Gen Zs and their senior counterparts, poses a worrying source of uncertainty and instability to the future of Beijing-Washington ties.
The resentment felt toward the amorphous West among some Chinese youth, coupled with the exaggerated fears of China among older generations of American citizens, jointly raise the prospects of a dangerous escalation of geopolitical tensions, especially over the South China Seas and Taiwan Straits.
On the other hand, the aggressive posturing of select Washington commentators does little to deter mass revanchist sentiment in China. If anything, the overly aggressive rhetoric feeds into the precise narratives touted by the growing radical minority of jingoistic commentators in China. For them, Their inflated self-assessment of the country's military and political strengths legitimizes the argument that war is somehow necessary and contradicts Beijing's official aim of a peaceful reunification with Taiwan.
Such sentiments are counterproductive in other ways, constricting the prospects for future generations of Chinese and American youth from collaborating over issues that affect them the most. Whether it be collectively confronting the dangers of surveillance and unbridled capitalism, tackling climate change and its deleterious effects, or future public health crises, then pooling information and dividing up designated tasks is not an option; it is a must.
While American youth remain more sanguine over the prospects of collaborating and competing concurrently, many among China's best and brightest next generations believe that America cannot "have its cake and eat it."
To accept compartmentalization over policy areas, in their eyes, constitutes a form of capitulation, especially when doing so requires foregoing core claims to national security and territorial integrity. Such attitudes are not conducive to mutually beneficial collaboration across education, technology and finance, all of which have been the focus of sustained attacks in equal parts from hawkish U.S. politicians.
Brian Wong is a Rhodes scholar from Hong Kong and founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review.
Looking ahead, how Gen Z thinks and speaks is often interpreted by political actors as cues to how they ought to behave and position themselves with regard to the other side of the Pacific. The more nationalistic young people are, the more likely it is that a vicious feedback loop of being against collaboration, in favor of isolationism, will be established.
Complete economic and trade decoupling between China and America may be unlikely, but the severance of valuable academic and youth-based ties is likely to both result from and amplify the misconceptions and misgivings between Americans and Chinese aged in their 20s. We should all be very worried about the path dependency of the outcomes that follow.
It will be difficult to resolve the above discrepancies instantaneously. Much has been written on the need for unfiltered, high-level dialogue between the militaries of China and America, if nothing else, to prevent the outbreak of accidental wars over flashpoints.
My strong belief is that the restoration of normalized, open, uncensored academic exchanges, including face-to-face summits and plenary sessions involving academics, diplomats and youth from Washington and Beijing alike, could well be pivotal in restoring some semblance of normalcy to Gen-Z ties.
Additionally, as much as campuses ought to be kept free from oppressive, infiltrative politics that undermines national sovereignty, it is equally vital that students from China and America alike feel welcome on campus in both countries as opposed to being subjects of extensive and often groundless investigations.
The need to keep the conversation obviously will not, on its own, be enough. But it is vital if Sino-American relations are to move in a more constructive direction.