To Counter "American Hegemony"

China under Xi is trying to establish a new world order

Xi's visit to Moscow comes in the context of the quest for a multipolar world. AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Russia is part of Beijing's attempt to reshape China's international image and reshape the international community along Chinese lines, RFIA quoted commentators in recent interviews and radio programs as saying.

China's Foreign Ministry said of the summit held by the two leaders, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia, that Xi held an "in-depth exchange of views" with Putin on key international and regional issues of common concern, with the aim of strengthening strategic coordination and practical cooperation, and signing a declaration that their relationship is entering a "new era," referring to Xi's favorite word he always repeats.

The visit comes as Xi emerges victorious from a long power struggle, having managed to take over the country for a third term.

Xi is now free to steer Chinese diplomacy into his new era, saying it will be a "shared future for mankind," a phrase that analysts say means Beijing will look to forge stronger alliances with other regimes to counter "American hegemony."

Tovia Gerng, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said China's foreign policy in recent decades has typically focused on following other countries' lead, or facilitating international arrangements, rather than projecting itself as a global power to others.

"In mediating territorial disputes, China tends to play the role of follower or facilitator rather than leader," Giring said. "This time it is amazing that China is not only leading international disputes but successfully mediating them without the presence of the United States."

Ghering was referring to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Beijing, which was followed by a trilateral statement from China, Saudi Arabia and Iran on March 10, in which China announced Riyadh and Tehran were resuming diplomatic relations.

This is a clear success for Beijing, its first in the volatile Middle East, and could be followed by other successes.

China's English-language nationalist Global Times newspaper said the agreement was "further proof that unipolarity no longer exists and that we are already in a de facto multipolar world order."

"The Middle East and the world are not only in the post-American order, but also in the post-Western order," the paper said.

"As in the Middle East, China doesn't actually want to replace the United States, because it doesn't want to get involved in its disputes, but in such disputes China first considers whether it can take advantage of them with very low risk as it did with the Iran-Saudi agreement," Gehring said.

Moritz Rudolph, a fellow at the Paul Tsai Center for China at Yale Law School, said he believed China was also trying to become a serious global actor and standard-setter.

"As the United States enters the presidential election season, I think we wouldn't be surprised to see more Chinese activity in just the next couple of years," Rudolph said.

"From the Chinese perspective, their foreign policy seems to be moving towards the Global South with attempts to build alliances with those countries, and to use these alliances in pursuit of long-term goals, such as changing the international order. To me there seems to be a real strategic goal to shape the world order through the use of law."

Rudolph predicted that the use of international treaties, laws and other binding agreements to further Beijing's policy goals would have strong side effects.

"Once China becomes a global player, its legal system will also be extended. This is one of those issues that could radically change how the world works."

"It's a gradual process, and at some point you wake up and realize that the world order has changed. The rules have become more Chinese, and the world order has become more Chinese, too."