A woman walks past a poster for the 2015 Global Women’s Summit, which was co-hosted by China and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on Sept. 27 at the UN headquarters in New York. (PHOTO:XINHUA)
 

 

In September this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his debut at UN headquarters and attended a series of summits marking the 70th anniversary of the UN’s establishment. In his remarks to the general assembly as well as the development and peacekeeping summits, Xi announced the commitment of China to support the UN’s work. This signals that the nation is starting to play a guiding role in the intergovernmental organization.

Above all, China’s proposal to host a South-South cooperation roundtable and a global women’s summit with the UN marked a breakthrough in agenda setting. In a step forward for Chinese multilateral diplomacy, Xi put forth proposals, solutions and rules in his speeches.

China set up a standby police force for UN peacekeeping. It has sent out a total of more than 30,000 troops since it began participating in peacekeeping operations 25 years ago. With more than 3,000 Chinese soldiers deployed in nine missions, China has the most active peacekeeping troops among the five permanent members. It accounts for 6.64 percent of total peacekeeping expenses, which is more than the contribution of any other developing country. Joining these efforts can help China improve its domestic army, enhance its overseas operational capabilities and maintain a responsible image.
 

China has pledged to establish an international development knowledge center and a South-South cooperation and development college, which will offer a new way to provide foreign aid and promote international cooperation. This is evidence of the nation’s increased influence on international discourse. The center and the college, together with other Chinese initiatives, such as “the Belt and Road,” the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, are intended to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 development agenda.
 

At the general assembly, Xi promised China will establish a “China-UN Peace and Development Fund” and a South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, donate to the WHO and the group UN Women, provide military aid to the African Union, and forgive the debt of a number of the least-developed countries as well as landlocked and small island developing countries. These measures will greatly improve China’s influence and voice in this field.
 

In addition, China has been a staunch defender of international rule of law, which Chinese leaders have recently emphasized on many occasions. Xi called for the application of law in international relations. Premier Li Keqiang said the authority and validity of international law must be maintained while Foreign Minister Wang Yi advocated the pursuit of peace and development within the framework of international law.

Also, it should be noted that the transformation of China-UN diplomacy requires innovation and breakthroughs in the following aspects. First, China should reflect on how to better protect the interests of developing countries despite the differences among them. China is the second-largest economy, but at the same time, it is a developing country with the largest population and territory. Among developing countries, it pays the most membership dues in the UN while shouldering the biggest share and the greatest burden in terms of peacekeeping.

Second, China should strive for more rights in terms of membership dues so that more Chinese citizens can work in the UN and more UN organizations can locate their centers, headquarters and offices in China. China opposes differentiated treatment relative to other developing countries and will not accept any criteria for calculating dues other than the ability to pay.
 

Third, China should actively participate in reform to make the UN more democratic, powerful and effective. Fourth, more efforts are needed to prevent and avoid corruption in multilateral assistance.
 

To conclude, further transformation of China-UN diplomacy requires more intellectual support. In my opinion, it is necessary to set up a discipline for the studies of UN history, problems and theories.

 

Zhang Guihong is executive head of the UN Studies Center at Fudan University.