China Surpasses US in Diplomatic Influence
China Is the World's No. 1 Diplomatic Power, Ahead of the US, China has biggest diplomatic footprint in the world just ahead of US, new analysis shows
UPDATES: China is the world's largest diplomatic power, with a wider presence across the globe than the United States, according to a new report shared with Newsweek.
New analysis shows that China still has the largest diplomatic footprint across the globe, narrowly pipping the United States.
MINH HOANG/POOL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
China Is the World's No. 1 Diplomatic Power, Ahead of the US, Report Shows
By Tom O'Connor
China is the world's largest diplomatic power, with a wider presence across the globe than the United States, according to a new report shared with Newsweek.
Though the lead is slim, the report highlights the product of Beijing's efforts to expand its influence amid an intensified geopolitical competition with Washington.
Set to be published Sunday morning, the Lowy Institute's 2024 Global Diplomacy Index ranks 66 nations and territories by the number of diplomatic postings they possess around the world. China came in first place with 274 posts in its diplomatic network, closely followed by the U.S. with 271.
"Diplomacy is often overlooked as a measure of influence, but it has never been a more important element of statecraft," Ryan Neelam, director of the Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, said in a statement. "The Global Diplomacy Index shows that governments continue to invest in diplomacy to project power and achieve their interests."
"The ongoing rivalry between the United States and China is reflected in the superpowers' dominance in the 2024 rankings," he said, adding, "while geopolitical competition has propelled Asia and the Pacific into focus."
The results show that Beijing is ahead in Africa, East Asia, the Pacific Island nations and Central Asia, while Washington still has the edge in Europe, North and Central America and South Asia. They are tied in the Middle East and South America.
Reached for comment, the Chinese Embassy to the United States referred Newsweek to the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs held in Beijing in December, during which President Xi Jinping discussed at length the strategic necessity of promoting diplomacy in line with the nation's strategic interests and commitment to state ideology.
The rare meeting, which took place behind closed doors and was attended by the nation's highest-level officials, marked some of Xi's most vocal remarks to date on the issue of foreign policy. He asserted during the gathering that, "China has become a responsible major country with enhanced international influence, stronger capacity to steer new endeavors, and greater moral appeal."
Xi also outlined six foreign policy "imperatives" that included upholding firm positions on international issues, channeling China's growing weight in international affairs into promoting development and prosperity, applying a "correct understanding of history and the big picture" to navigate global trends, channeling tradition while also seeking innovation in diplomacy, vigorously defending national interests to confront "bullying" and leveraging institutional strength under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.
As Newsweek has previously reported, a key component of China's approach to diplomacy is an intricate network of ranked "strategic partnerships" that has evolved and expanded over the years.
Broadening this diplomatic network was a central focus for the People's Republic last year, as directed by Xi during the last Chinese Communist Party National Congress convened in October 2022. The effort, however, has been met with some skepticism and concern in the West regarding Beijing's emergent role in world affairs.
Still, China's brokering of the resumption of relations between Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia in March of last year signaled a landmark win for Beijing. Even as the region was later plunged into crisis with the eruption of the war in Gaza, the Riyadh and Tehran have remained in contact.
China's foray into attempting to foster Russia-Ukraine diplomacy also won significant attention in 2023, though the two sides remain locked in conflict.
The concurrent wars involving U.S. partners and allies in Europe and the Middle East have been accompanied by mutual calls for engagement from Beijing and Washington. While the U.S.-China rivalry has intensified over the past decade, a cautious thaw has emerged since Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden met in a four-hour summit in San Francisco last November.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss "a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in the relationship," according to a State Department readout.
Still, the issue of Taiwan remains a serious matter of contention between the two top powers. Beijing claims the self-ruling island as its own and has vowed to retake it through diplomacy or force, while Washington provides the autonomous government in Taipei with increasing political and military support.
China's efforts to sever the Taiwanese government's international links were apparent in the report accompanying the 2024 Global Diplomacy Index. Though Taiwan secured 33rd place in the ranking, the report noted that, of the island's 110 overseas posts worldwide, most of them "are not officially accredited as diplomatic missions."
Last month, the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru became the latest nation to cut ties with Taiwan in favor of establishing relations with Beijing, leaving Taipei with only a dozen official diplomatic allies—Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and the Vatican.
Pacific islands have been a particular center of attention, where the report noted that "there has been a surge of new diplomatic missions in the Pacific Islands" that were "driven by geopolitical competition in the region."
Meanwhile, "Taiwan is struggling to preserve the few formal diplomatic relationships it has left as China picks off countries through economic and other enticements," the report observed.
On the other hand, the report noted that "China's rise to the top spot was rapid," having lagged behind the U.S. by 23 posts in 2011 before first overtaking in 2019 by a margin of three. That gap widened to eight in the previous ranking in 2011 but narrowed again this past year as Beijing's posts fell by one and Washington's rose by four.
The authors of the report expected the two nations to remain relatively locked in their slightly fluctuating positions at the top of the list, noting how, "since China assumed the lead, both countries have largely plateaued."
"This is, perhaps, to be expected," the report stated. "Once diplomatic networks have reached a critical mass, options for new openings reduce to second and third-tier cities, or to countries that are seen as more peripheral and often with riskier operating environments."
Read here.
The Lowy Institute's Global Diplomacy Index, which tracks how many diplomatic missions countries maintain, has China in the top spot.(Reuters:Â Dado Ruvic)
China has biggest diplomatic footprint in the world just ahead of US, new analysis shows
By Stephen Dziedzic
New analysis shows that China still has the largest diplomatic footprint across the globe, narrowly pipping the United States.
Meanwhile, Australia maintains a relatively modest network of embassies and ranks 26th in the world for its diplomatic presence, behind several nations with smaller or comparable economies.
The Lowy Institute's Global Diplomacy Index tracks how many diplomatic missions countries maintain, and how that presence has grown or dwindled over time.
The 2019 Index showed that China had overtaken the US as the country with the largest global network of embassies and consulates, and Beijing retains that slender lead in 2024, with 274 missions compared to 271 for the US.
Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute Ryan Neelam said China's diplomatic edge — at least in terms of its presence — was clearest in East Asia and Africa.
"China is ahead in the key areas of geopolitical contest, so in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, while the United States still has the lead … in the Americas and in Europe," he said.
Australia has less than half the number of missions of either great power, with a total of 124 diplomatic posts across the world.
Recent federal governments have been expanding their diplomatic presence in South-East Asia and the Pacific, and Australia now has a post in every single Pacific Island nation.
But Mr Neelam said despite that, Australia's diplomatic network was still "underweight" when "compared to its economic weight [and] as a middle power which seeks to project its interests globally".
"It's really when it comes to Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America where Australia is under-represented," he said.
Mr Neelam said if the government simply wanted to focus clearly on Australia's immediate region then a focused diplomatic network might be "appropriate", but warned that it could still "bite" Australia when pitching for positions in multilateral organisations like the United Nations.
"Australia's running for a UN Security Council seat in 2029-30 and those candidacies are very much run on how many votes you can get. And those areas where Australia is weakest diplomatically, you can't win a UN election without them," he said,
"It's not insurmountable … but having that presence does make it easier."
The Index also shows that India and Turkey are rapidly expanding their diplomatic networks, with both countries adding 11 overseas posts since 2021.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's official diplomatic missions continue to dwindle, with Taipei losing eight allies to Beijing since the last survey.
But Mr Neelam said Taiwan had still been busy building diplomatic links around the world by continuing to open unofficial embassies in a host of countries which don't extend formal recognition to it.
The index also shows Russia's presence, particularly in the developed world, has been substantially cut back thanks to the mass expulsions of Russian diplomats in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
And it confirms there has been a sharp growth in the number of foreign missions and diplomatic posts in the Pacific as strategic competition escalates across the region.
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