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“The clash of civilisations” has become one of the most over-used phrases in the English language but it might reasonably be said to apply to the now quite worrying deterioration in relations between China and the US. Google’s decision to carry out its promise to end censorship of its Chinese search engine – which will almost certainly result in its expulsion from mainland China – is just the latest example of the apparently irreconcilable differences that lie between these two superpowers.