Back in 2014, in statements by its leadership and in government media outlets, Beijing began to express its desire for a "new type of great power relations" with Washington. This bold, if vaguely defined, ambition was among the first indications that China was beginning to reconceive its global role. The phrase was clunky, and China finally dropped it with little fanfare. Nevertheless, a new kind of U.S.-China relationship has indeed begun to emerge.
A relationship that has, in recent decades, been organized around the pursuit of shared interests appears to be reverting to one increasingly defined by differences in worldview. Beijing is tightening the screws on internal political dissent, and Americans are growing more uneasy about the nature of Chinese influence abroad. Ideology once again defines the terms of the U.S.-China relationship.
It has become fashionable to point to Donald Trump's election win as the inflection point for any number of global trends. But, in this case, the shift owes more to Chinese than to American leadership. Since his accession to the party secretary position in 2012, Xi Jinping has consistently taken an ideological line stronger than any party leader since Mao Zedong.