China can shine on the UN stage, as Trump puts America first

Just three days before Trump’s inauguration, President Xi Jinping (習近平) sent an unequivocal message to a world distressed by the incoming US president’s isolationist hyperbole. “We should adhere to multilateralism to uphold the authority and efficacy of multilateral institutions,” Xi told the World Economic Forum.

The following day, at the UN in Geneva, Xi urged the world to unite on issues ranging from the environment to terrorism, nuclear disarmament and development cooperation – signalling the UN as the natural venue to channel China’s global ambitions. Secretary General António Guterres also emphasised China’s crucial role in helping the UN deliver the Paris Agreement on climate change (now threatened by Trump) and halving global extreme poverty, a key goal largely achieved due to China’s efforts at home.

Beijing’s enthusiasm for multilateralism comes as a relief to the UN, faced with a bullish US in the diplomatic arena, and potential draconian cuts to US contributions to UN funds. China’s diplomatic objectives have usually been more focused on narrow geopolitical interests, as seen in its rejection of last summer’s Hague tribunal ruling against some of its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Yet, it has recently become a bedrock of the UN’s functioning. China is now the third-largest contributor to the UN’s regular budget and the second-largest contributor to the peacekeeping budget, according to Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

But China’s rise in the UN is not without concerns. Its expansion of leverage will affect US and Russian clout in the global system in general and in the UN Security Council in particular, creating a new source of friction among these three veto-wielding powers. Also, the council could be further crippled by looming US-China rifts over trade – and possibly Taiwan. China could be more assertive in trying to weaken council decisions affecting African states, where it has close economic ties.