New world order: Xi bent on securing bigger role for China in global affairs, analysts say
In several high-profile speeches, the president has stressed the nation must assume a greater position in the global order, one equal to its larger status
President Xi Jinping’s repeated calls for reform to global governance show he’s determined to put China on an equal footing with the US in managing world affairs, analysts say.
The statements also indicated Beijing would pursue a new order that better reflected its increased economic clout, they said.
Xi stressed the need to change the status quo in a speech at a study session of the decision-making Politburo on Tuesday. He made similar statements during his recent visit to the United States, where he held a summit with US President Barack Obama, and in his speech at the United Nations headquarters.
Xi wants a world order in which no power is able to interfere in what China considers its ‘internal affairs’
“China wants to be recognised as an important player and the new order should also reflect the balance of developed/emerging economies,” said Jingdong Yuan, an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s Centre for International Security Studies.
Benjamin Herscovitch, research manager of China Policy, a Beijing-based research and advisory company, said Xi’s vision “entails a relationship of equals between China and the United States”.
Xi wanted a world where “Washington would no longer lecture Beijing from on high about human rights, cybersecurity and territorial disputes, and would instead recognise China’s so-called legitimate right to conduct its affairs as it sees fit”, Herscovitch said.