America’s military action in Venezuela and President Donald Trump’s talk of owning Greenland are stoking concerns that the United States is dismantling the rules-based global order.
But this could also be a diplomatic opening for China as it tries to portray itself, in contrast, as a more responsible and stabilising power.
Analysts said while this aligned with Beijing’s push to strengthen ties with its neighbours – a strategic move as its rivalry with Washington has intensified – concrete actions were needed to win them over.
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Patricia Kim, a fellow specialising in Chinese foreign policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, said the US abduction of Nicolas Maduro and his wife had given Beijing an opportunity to present itself as the more benevolent and responsible great power but its actions were ultimately what mattered most.
“Its neighbours in Southeast Asia will be watching closely how China conducts itself in disputed maritime waters, because that is where Beijing’s claims about restraint and responsibility are most directly tested,” she said.
Beijing’s sweeping claims to most of the resource-rich South China Sea – a major shipping route – overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
