This week’s cover

“It’s worse than you think” can be a hard message to get across—because the cover assumes how bad you actually think “it” is. At The Economist, we have long reckoned that dealings between China and America are awful and getting worse. However, on a first visit to Beijing by our senior editors since China lifted its zero-covid policy, we were astonished at how the atmosphere had become drenched in intimidation and paranoia.