In a Washington where even mundane decisions have become bitterly partisan, Robert Gates stands out as a reminder of a bipartisanship that was once more commonplace. Gates has held the most senior national security positions in government under Republican and Democratic administrations. He was CIA Director under George H.W. Bush. Later, George W. Bush named him Defense Secretary and Barack Obama kept him on the job. (Gates was literally a Boy Scout and served as president of the organization for two years after he left the Pentagon.) Gates’s experience with China dates from the normalization of U.S.-China relations under President Carter and continued through decades where the U.S. sought engagement. Recently, he has expressed deep concern that U.S. politics have become too dysfunctional to meet the China challenge. This interview is part of Rules of Engagement, a series by Bob Davis, who covered the U.S.-China relationship at The Wall Street Journal starting