China in Xi’s “New Era”: A Play for Global Leadership

Since 2010, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has adopted a comprehensive, assertive foreign policy underwritten by its rapidly growing power. President Xi Jinping has not only embraced this policy, but also invested significant resources personal prestige in the expansion of Chinese power and influence around the world. The transformation of China into a revisionist power has alarmed and encountered resistance from the West as well as from China’s neighbors. China risks imperial overreach and a strategic conflict with the United States that could undercut the PRC’s security, endanger its long-term economic prospects, and jeopardize the survival of the ruling Communist Party.