A major factor that prevents the US from pursuing greater cooperation with China are the deep and entrenched impressions held by the US body politic, its scholars and policymakers, on China, the Chinese government and its people. Kishore Mahbubani's interview with George Yeo, Singapore's former foreign minister and a keen student of US-China politics, unpacks these speculations and brings out the divergence between these speculations and the realities on the ground.