In discussions with senior Chinese officials over the years, the tone has always been the same: measured, courteous, almost studiously neutral. They never criticized the United States directly. Instead, they would ask a different question: Why should the global system continue to revolve around a single country?

That’s why President Donald Trump’s coming meeting with President Xi Jinping carries more weight than the usual diplomatic choreography. The real question in Beijing isn’t whether America is failing. It’s whether the United States is still the country others organize around — or one they increasingly work around.

For Americans, that distinction matters. As China and others hedge against U.S. leadership, the perception of American drift can translate into higher costs, weaker alliances and a more uncertain global economy. The issue isn’t whether the United States is in decline. It’s whether the world starts behaving as if it is.

That view isn’t confined to Beijing. American influence has never rested on power alone — it depends on the belief that the United States is reliable and competent. That belief is eroding. As Harvard........

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