The narrative war between the U.S. and China is in full swing, fueled by the tariff conflict initiated under Trump. Recently, the Trump administration declared it would not allow China into its “backyard,” referring to Latin America. In response, China fired back, stating that Latin Americans don’t want to be anyone’s backyard. The irony, however, is that China seeks to turn the entire South China Sea into its own backyard—a Pacific region one and a half times the size of the Mediterranean, bordering half a dozen countries. In this clash of great power narratives, hypocrisy seems to be the norm.