Leaders | China’s foreign policy

The world according to Xi

Even if China’s transactional diplomacy brings some gains, it contains real perils

Mar 23rd 2023

A lesser man than Xi Jinping might have found it uncomfortable. Meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week, China’s leader spoke of “peaceful co-existence and win-win co-operation”, while supping with somebody facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes. But Mr Xi is untroubled by trivial inconsistencies. He believes in the inexorable decline of the American-led world order, with its professed concern for rules and human rights. He aims to twist it into a more transactional system of deals between great powers. Do not underestimate the perils of this vision—or its appeal around the world.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The world according to Xi”