China’s push for global importance has many obstacles to overcome

Cary Huang says never before has a Chinese leader been so keen to expand the country’s reach, but despite the state visits and summits, China’s neighbours and trading partners still suspect its motives and intentions

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Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set for a historic handshake in Singapore on Nov. 7, 2015. The first summit was held between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since a civil war divided them in 1949. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Cary Huang

Published: 10:00am, 15 Nov 2015Updated: 10:00am, 15 Nov 2015

Xi’s foreign policy is characterised by a mix of cooperation and nationalism, which has caused more concern than ease.

Has China’s time now come? This question has often been asked in diplomatic circles.

President Xi Jinping (習近平) has given the clearest answer with his recent globetrotting.

Never before have China’s leaders been so keen to reach out to the world beyond their borders. Since he came to office, Xi has been racking up the air miles as he pays an unprecedented number of friendly calls on near neighbours and distant friends. In his 32 months since becoming president, Xi has been to 35 nations, including four visits to Russia and two to the United States. It shows how eager the Chinese leader is to extend the country’s global reach.

In the past few weeks, Xi went to the United States, for a summit with his US counterpart Barack Obama to set the tone for the world’s most important bilateral relationship. Then he flew to London, where he and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of “a golden era” in British-Chinese relations. A few days later, he received German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Beijing, setting the tone for China-Europe relations moving forward.

Xi with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Photo: AP

Early this month, he switched his attention to China’s neighbours, visiting Vietnam and Singapore. In Singapore, he and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou held the first summit since Mao Zedong (毛澤東) met Chiang Kai-shek in the wartime capital of Chongqing (重慶) in 1945. Ma and Xi’s meeting was intended to tell the world that the Chinese can solve their own problems peacefully.

Xi left Beijing on Saturday for the G20 summit in Turkey, after which he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the Philippines on Tuesday, before flying to France to address the climate change summit in late November and to South Africa for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in early December.