There was a time not so long ago in China when anything American was automatically seen as better. In the 1990s, weddings were held at a McDonald’s near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. By the 2000s, Nike sneakers, iPhones and dates at Pizza Hut were the badges of middle-class achievement. America, which is called mei guo or “beautiful country” in Chinese, was the bastion of wealth and ease. Even the moon hung larger in the United States than in China, people used to joke. Now, Chinese media and commentators mockingly refer to the United States not as mei guo but as mei di — “the beautiful imperialist.” And Chinese shoppers are more likely to be sipping a drink from Luckin, a Chinese coffee chain, than Starbucks or lining up all night to buy Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro than the latest Apple device. Today, no one says the moon is any different when seen from the United States. “Back in the day, you looked at American brands, you just felt they were cooler,” said Tracy Liu, a 30-year-old translator in Shanghai. “Now people chase after domestic brands.” For decades, this soft power was one of the United States’ most potent weapons in China. But over the last few years, the United States has lost hearts and minds in China as its cultural luster has faded. The shift comes as Beijing is expanding its military and technological prowess — and as China’s reputation in the United States has plummeted dramaticallyamid concerns that it will use underhanded tactics to achieve leader Xi Jinping’s vision of a world where the United States and China are equal. Together, these two trends push the countries further away from each other and closer to conflict. | 
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