The need for an alternative international system

The United States and China share the same ambition to remake the world, except they have different images of what the world should look like. Both countries are working to build a network of alliances, but the United States has achieved much more success than China.

Currently, it appears that many of China's plans to become the world leader are failing or backfiring. In fact, many of China's neighbors, such as Japan, the Philippines and India, are moving closer to Washington. The aggressive style of diplomacy may have pleased Xi Jinping and his generals, but it has won China very few friends. In fact, some polls indicate that Beijing does not have a favorable image around the world.

A 2023 PEW Research Center study explored attitudes toward China and the United States in 24 countries on six continents. The poll shows that only 28 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of Beijing and only 23 percent believe that China contributes to world peace. Nearly 60 percent of respondents have a positive view of the United States, and 61 percent believe Washington contributes to global peace and stability.

Xi Jinping's vision is based on a disciplined and well-resourced comprehensive strategy. It addresses governments and citizens of almost every country in the world.

In contrast, according to Chinese officials, the United States advances its cultural goals through what has been described as pop culture. In a 2023 report, China's Foreign Ministry stated that “…the real weapons of the United States' cultural expansion were the production lines of the Mattel Company and Coca-Cola.” Mattel is the manufacturer of Barbie dolls.

Xi Jinping has four distinct global programs that he uses with the goal of making China the world's central nation. The first is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to address the infrastructure needs of emerging and middle-income economies while exploiting excess capacity in China's construction industry. This program also promotes China's development model, expands the reach of its military and police forces, and advances the use of its currency.

The second program is the Global Development Initiative launched in 2021. It focuses on global development. He often works with the United Nations and supports small-scale projects focusing on poverty reduction, digital connectivity, climate change and health and food security. This highlights Beijing's preference as the basis for human rights. A Chinese government document on this program accuses other countries of “…marginalizing development issues by emphasizing human rights and democracy.”

The third program is the Global Security Initiative (GSI), launched in 2022. According to Xi Jinping, the GSI advocates that countries “reject the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and say no to group politics and the confrontation of the blocs.”

The fourth program is the Global Civilization Initiative launched in 2023. It advances the idea that countries with different civilizations and levels of development will have different political and economic models. This asserts that states determine rights and that no single country or model has the mandate to control human rights discourse. This initiative has proven very popular with authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes whose conception of human rights is very different from those who are staunch defenders of human rights.

China has a broader diplomatic outreach program than the United States. It has more embassies and representatives around the world than any other country. China also has an extremely extensive media network. China's international news network CGTN has twice as many overseas bureaus as CNN. Xinhua, China's official news service, has more than 180 offices worldwide.

Xi Jinping has also strengthened the role of China's armed forces as a diplomatic tool. China's People's Liberation Army is conducting exercises with a growing number of countries and providing training to militaries in the developing world. It was reported that during the tenure of former President Rodrigo Duterte, several Filipino military officers underwent training sessions in China. The response to Chinese initiatives has begun to falter, in part due to the ongoing difficulties of the Chinese economy. The Belt and Road Initiative, for example, brought together 23 leaders at its 2023 forum, compared to 37 in 2019. Funding for the BRI has declined sharply since its peak in 2016. This has been attributed to the economic difficulties that currently crossing China. At the same time, many BRI beneficiary countries are struggling to repay their loans to Beijing.

China's influence on major global organizations like the United Nations and the World Trade Organization may seem minor at this point, but it is slowly growing. This can be attributed to the fact that international systems have not been able to resolve long-standing conflicts like those in the Middle East or prevent new ones like Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

China is right that the international system needs to be reformed. But no one, including China and the United States, has created an acceptable and convincing alternative.

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