Beijing
—
As U.S. President Donald Trump prepared for his arrival at Davos by stirring up discord with allies, stepping up threats to seize Greenland, vowing to impose tariffs on countries that opposed his bid, and leaking private messages from European leaders, Beijing was using Beijing to position itself as an alternative world leader.
And a growing audience is willing to listen.
Hours after President Trump’s broadside, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng took to the stage at the annual ALPS conference and asserted that Beijing had “consistently acted on the vision of a community with a shared future and continued to firmly support multilateralism and free trade.”
“We uphold consensus and unity, cooperation that transcends division and conflict, and provide China with solutions to common global problems.”
The comments, which the leaders made in preparation for Trump’s arrival at the gathering, underscore China’s strategy to present itself as a calm, rational and reliable counterweight to the shock and awe of the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long called for a restructuring of a world order that he sees as unjustly dominated by the United States and its allies, and is increasingly presenting his vision as an alternative despite warnings from China’s neighbors against the country’s regional aggression.
Now, the logic that resonates in China’s policy circles is simple. China doesn’t have to go out of its way to seek a better balance of power in the world; it just needs to stay the course while the United States loses allies and credibility for itself.
And that strategy already appears to be paying dividends, with President Trump refusing to rule out the possibility of seizing Danish territory by force by accusing U.S. allies and advancing the kinds of threats Beijing has dreamed of orchestrating against U.S. alliances, especially NATO.
The only way to see it unfold is to watch Canadian leader Mark Carney’s Davos speech. In a surprisingly candid confession from one of America’s closest allies, Carney cast “American hegemony” as part of a hypothetical “rules-based international order.”
“We knew that the story of an international rules-based order was partially false, with exemptions for the powerful when it suited them, and trade rules being enforced asymmetrically,” Carney said, at least in part in an apparent allusion to the United States.
Carney’s message was not framed as supporting China. The Canadian leader began by hinting at criticism of Soviet authoritarianism. But this rhetoric, coming a year after President Trump continued to publicly mused about making Canada the 51st U.S. state, overlaps enough with that of Beijing’s own strategy to make the board’s talking points.
More concrete victories followed. During a fence-mending visit to Beijing last week, Prime Minister Carney ushered in a new era of cooperation with China, launching a “strategic partnership” and easing Canada’s harsh tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, which it had introduced in tandem with the United States. (He also said the partnership would better prepare the country for a “new world order,” something that once again comes in line with China’s view that global change is on the horizon.)
Other close U.S. partners have also expressed interest in moving closer to or repairing relations with China to de-risk the United States. Britain’s Keir Starmer is pushing for greater engagement with China, with his government on Tuesday approving the construction of a new “giant” Chinese embassy near London’s controversial financial district.
Some of these diplomatic maneuvers may be discouraged, driven by the realpolitik of the U.S. threat to the NATO alliance and the building of barriers around U.S. markets, breaking old ties and forging new ones. And it did so despite Western concerns about Beijing’s own ambitions, including regarding the self-governing island of Taiwan.
And in Beijing, this is seen as precisely the kind of situation in which China could benefit, not only in terms of driving a wedge between the United States and Europe, but also in asserting its territorial claims and maintaining its place in the global economy.
Countries around the world are paying close attention to China’s record annual global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion. Analysts say this imbalance threatens domestic industries everywhere, including in Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned this threat in his Davos speech, but the European leaders attending the gathering were clearly focused on President Trump’s destruction of NATO, leaving little room for greater economic cohesion.
And China’s Vice Premier He used the occasion to insist that China’s economic partnership with other countries and the Chinese government “never pursues trade surpluses” but is falling victim to trade barriers for security reasons.
“For other countries, China is a trading partner, not a rival. China’s development is not a threat but an opportunity for the world economy,” he said.
And Davos got the message well, according to China’s propaganda machine.
A headline in Chinese state media said his “resolute stance” was met with “hearty and enthusiastic applause” at Davos.
