Barely 10 days ago I was sipping a large cappuccino at the Hong Kong Mandarin Oriental and chatting to Clark Randt, the former US Ambassador to China (he held the post from 2001 to 2009, making him the longest serving Ambassador to hold the role). Fluent in Mandarin, and with experience of US-China relations at the very highest level, he’s brilliant on the future of the relationship, particularly at a time when the leaderships in both countries are undergoing change.