The U.S. presidential election is less than three months away, and as the race to the White House heats up, frictions between China and the U.S. are intensifying. From trade, technology and the fallout from COVID-19 to Hong Kong, Taiwan and the South China Sea, critics warn that the China-U.S. ties are at their worst in decades.

The United States has more than 5.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 175,000 deaths – both figures the highest in the world. It's a crisis unlike any other, and U.S. President Donald Trump is blaming China for one of America's darkest hours.

Trump accuses Beijing of covering up the coronavirus in its early stages. He has blamed the origins of COVID-19 on a lab in Wuhan. He said he wanted to hold China accountable for the losses the U.S. has suffered in the pandemic. He accuses the World Health Organization of being "China-centric," even pulling the U.S. out of the global body.

Wang Yong, a professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, analyzes the reasons behind Trump's words.

"The American people care about the economy. Trump triggered a trade war with China and signed the phase one trade deal. The American economy also did well over the past three years. Trump has successfully shaped his image into a guardian of American interests. This is somehow meant to secure his re-election. But the coronavirus outbreak and his defeat in dealing with the pandemic has destabilized his plans. So to get re-elected, he's made China into a scapegoat," said Wang.

The Trump administration designated China a "strategic competitor" and "revisionist power" for the first time in 2017. Since then, Washington has adopted tougher policies on Beijing. But America's looming presidential election in November has seen the administration take an even harder line on China – not just through rhetoric, but also action.

In late July, Washington unexpectedly closed the Chinese Consulate General in Houston. The move triggered a tit-for-tat response from Beijing, which closed the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. Since then, Trump has also issued executive orders to ban Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat. Last week, the White House sent U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan, the highest level cabinet member to visit Taipei since China and the U.S. established diplomatic ties in 1979.

Professor Wang accuses U.S. elites of needing an "enemy" to unite different ethnic, cultural and interest groups around the American flag. He says a similar thing happened throughout the Cold War with Russia and against Japan in the 1980s. He says the U.S. considers China the biggest threat to its global dominance.

"Because of China's rapid economic growth, China's GDP was 67 percent of America's last year. Some Americans also look down on China's political system and socialist ideology, but China has successfully brought the pandemic under control. This contrasts with America's failure to control the pandemic. So, China has become a big target. Trump believes hitting China helps him win more votes."

As for the relationship's future, Wang says it's difficult to imagine the two countries rolling back the clock to a different era. But, he still believes it's possible for the two to develop closer ties based on competition and cooperation.