China wants to take advantage of the weakening of US global leadership to gradually reshape the international order in line with its own interests. At the same time, Beijing wants the clout of a global leader but is not ready to take on the corresponding financial and security commitments.
The Financial Times reports this.
One example of this approach, the newspaper says, is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will take place next week in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. According to FT sources familiar with the plans, the event will be one of the most tightly controlled in the organisation’s history, which was founded in 1989.
This year, the summit programme has been significantly shortened. In particular, the traditional off-site meetings for informal discussions among leaders are not planned. Instead, US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are expected to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his “Qilin” villa.
As the FT suggests, the shortened programme may be intended to limit free interaction among participants. At the same time, Beijing is seeking to present itself as the centre of the multilateral system and to fill the leadership vacuum that analysts believe has emerged as a result of the Trump administration’s policies.
Last year, Xi Jinping unveiled the so-called Global Governance Initiative. It envisages creating a “more just and equitable” international system. The Chinese leader also spoke out against “all forms of unilateralism, hegemony, domination by a few countries and bloc politics” – which was seen as a criticism of the United States.
However, Western analysts and diplomats question whether China’s vision of multilateralism matches the generally accepted understanding of the term. In their view, Beijing wants to preserve international institutions, including the UN and the World Trade Organization, but adapt them to its own political system, in which the rules are set by the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
“China wants to become the leading power in Asia and a leading power on the world stage. It wants respect for itself and its core interests, and it wants to get rid of the liberal core of the international order,” said Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.
To increase its influence, China is courting support from developing countries, using its trade might and expanding its participation in international groupings, including BRICS. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing has invested more than $1 trillion in infrastructure projects in transport and energy.
At the same time, analysts note that economic power is not enough to secure global leadership. Despite having one of the world’s largest armies, China has not shown a willingness to project military power far beyond its own region or to play a decisive role in resolving conflicts abroad.
Unlike the United States, which has underpinned its international influence with financial assistance, security alliances and support for global institutions, China is not yet prepared to commit comparable resources to ensuring international security.
In particular, Beijing has not condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even though it professes support for the principles of the UN Charter and national sovereignty. Analysts also point to China’s limited influence on talks aimed at ending the conflict involving Iran.
“China’s ambitions are certainly becoming increasingly clear. But in my view, the question of whether the country will be able to realise them remains open,” Hass concluded.
- The meeting previously announced by Donald Trump between the US president, Russian dictator Putin and China’s communist leader Xi Jinping will take place on 19 November.