China positions itself as defender of global rules as US retreats from multilateral frameworks

Beijing is framing its foreign policy around international cooperation and respect for established norms at a moment when Washington dismantles the very architecture it once championed. The shift has pushed China into an unlikely role: advocate for the multilateral system that Western powers built after the Second World War.

From ceremonial rhetoric to credible alternative

In 2017, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told more than 50 foreign ministers in Myanmar that the world needed a "multilateral, cooperative approach" to its shared future. At the time, the appeal sounded like standard diplomatic boilerplate. Today, prominent Western leaders consider China among the leading voices defending the international order.

The reversal stems from America's conduct. The United States, which designed the post-war framework and once positioned itself as the guardian of international law, has lost ground in multiple domains. Even Washington's allies have watched its "increasingly erratic behaviour" with disbelief.

A leadership void opens

The US is not withdrawing from the world stage, it remains internationally active, but it has abandoned coalition-building and the standards it previously upheld. President Donald Trump's tariff offensive against roughly half the globe and American exits from numerous international organisations have made the leadership vacuum unmistakable. Washington now operates "without any multilateral constraint," eroding norms across issue areas.

Beijing's alternative vision

China is not racing to claim the mantle of global hegemon. Instead, it argues for ending a world order defined by domination. Beijing's pitch centres on multilateral cooperation, adherence to international law, and negotiating "win-win solutions" to major global challenges. Europe, meanwhile, struggles with internal fractures and cannot speak with one voice, even as the Global South gains influence.

The question now is whether China's interests genuinely align with preserving the international system, or whether its advocacy is a transient stance. For observers who once assumed Beijing would upend the rules-based order, the real surprise may be that it now seeks to stabilise it.

Source: South China Morning Post