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View all search resultsAmerican or Chinese exceptionalism?
A big question for American exceptionalism is whether Trump is an aberration or a sign of where the US is headed.
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US President Donald Trump adjusts his jacket as he leaves the Congress Centre during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2026. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
T
he United States and China have long been the most prominent representatives of two opposing systems: democracy and socialism. But they increasingly share one crucial characteristic, personalized leadership, that blurs the otherwise sharp distinction between the two. This raises the important question: Which country is truly exceptional?
American exceptionalism is, of course, taken for granted. There is no formal definition of this lofty state of national supremacy, nor are there any qualifying metrics. To borrow from former US Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.” Personal freedoms, the rule of law and economic primacy are often cited as the main reasons why America is the world’s “shining city upon a hill,” as former US president Ronald Reagan famously proclaimed.
By contrast, China hardly comes across as exceptional, at least as it is understood in the West. Notwithstanding its mounting economic strengths, China is quickly disqualified by its lack of personal freedoms, not just of expression, but also those associated with a democratically elected representative government.
Leadership is also an important element of American exceptionalism. That is not because US presidents have been unusually brilliant or decisive, with magnetic personalities and extraordinary communication skills, but because they have embraced, if not celebrated, democratic principles. The very concept of American exceptionalism is predicated on the belief that US leaders are wedded to a free and open society, the rule of law and a capitalist economy.
Until now. President Donald Trump has abandoned many of these values, raising the distinct possibility that the US is no longer as exceptional as it might think. By contrast, Chinese President Xi Jinping has risen to the status of “core leader”, a designation last given to Mao Zedong. Yes, Xi is an authoritarian president in a one-party system. But from China’s perspective, he is just as exceptional as the generic American president used to be.
The role of leadership bears critically on the Sino-American relationship, and especially on their growing conflict. One problem is that the onerous task of managing the relationship has been left to personalized leadership and diplomacy. This forces us to think about US-China leadership in relative terms, not merely comparing Trump and Xi, but also assessing more generally how each country understands the leader’s role in the opposing system.
This is particularly difficult for Americans, who have been conditioned to abhor anything with a whiff of socialism. Few in the West dare think otherwise. Scathing Marxian critiques of capitalism as a system of exploitation disguised as freedom have gained little purchase, and the former Soviet Union’s appalling disregard for humanity cemented the aversion.
