CIAO DATE: 09/07
The National Interest
Angel or Dragon?
Michael Fullilove
Abstract
China's rising confidence, diplomatic dexterity and military capability would, if plotted on a chart, produce a growth curve every bit as impressive as the country's recent economic performance. Analysts rightfully focus on China's expanding clout in Southeast Asia and its thickening ties with U.S. treaty allies, such as South Korea and Australia. Watchful types report on China's emerging influence in resource-rich countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Some observers note with alarm the role Beijing is playing in the new Asian institutions such as the East Asia Summit and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
But for all the talk of China's growing sway, there is one arena for the exercise of Chinese influence that has attracted less attention than it deserves. China has quickened the pace of its interactions with the United Nations, and in recent times it has outperformed the United States as a player in New York. Now China faces a new test: to step up and assume the responsibilities that are incumbent upon a global power.
Since Beijing acquired China's seat at the UN from Taipei in 1971, it has steadily joined specialist organs and acceded to treaties. To the leaders in Zhongnanhai, the world began to look less like "two camps" and more like one big tent--and they wanted to be inside rather than outside of it. This process accelerated from the mid-1990s, as the country shed the garb of a historical victim and began to don the robes of a great power.