Chinese diplomacy often takes on an (emotional character) that is consistent with the expectations of the Chinese people regarding their communist leadership of the ruling Communist Party in China, led by its General Secretary, Comrade Xi Jinping, by exporting an image of China’s diplomatic superiority in the face of the decline and retreat of the American role diplomatically, as the United States of America is no longer the only power that cannot be dispensed with, as China has become powerful enough to participate in creating a new world order.
The (diplomacy of the major country with Chinese characteristics) plays a major role in the new march of the new era, with China declaring its commitment to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, justice, fairness, cooperation and mutual benefit, bearing international responsibility, enhancing security and stability, cooperation to achieve development and prosperity, and mobilizing efforts to establish a community of shared future for mankind, and the principle of South-South dialogue, to enhance the language of dialogue, solidarity and cooperation among the countries of the Global South under the leadership of China.
To promote China’s people’s diplomacy, the “Study Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy” was opened on July 20, 2020, which is the culmination of Comrade Xi Jinping’s thoughts as General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, and in support of the steps of national rejuvenation and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, after it was announced since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the steady entry of socialism with Chinese characteristics into the new era, through the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Therefore, the decision to establish the Center for Study of Xi Jinping Thought came as a step to include the establishment of a community with a shared future for mankind and the establishment of a new type of international relations as the focus of Comrade Xi Jinping’s thought on diplomacy in the “Eight Points Emphasized” and “Fourteen Principles Must Be Upheld”, on which “Xi Jinping” Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is based. There, China’s diplomacy and soft power through the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries play a major role for the Chinese people themselves to give full play to their role as a main channel for popular diplomacy and to enhance friendship between China and all countries of the world. Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has paid attention to the importance of the popular dimension in its foreign relations, so in 1954 the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries was established, which is the association from which the China-Arab Friendship Association emerged and was established in December 2001.
China’s popular diplomacy plays a major role in managing China’s relations with the world, through the network of Chinese relations that go beyond official patterns, through the presence of Chinese communities whose numbers are increasing in all countries of the world, to the point that there are entire Chinese popular gatherings and neighborhoods bearing its name in all countries of the world, including the United States itself and all countries of Europe and Africa and a number of countries of the Middle East. These are the large Chinese communities that carry with them to their destinations Chinese culture, customs and traditions, in addition to its products.
Here we find that the Chinese people are the most important audience for Chinese diplomatic activity. The large volume of Chinese diplomatic activity around the world also sends a message to the Chinese people themselves, that China is more committed to peaceful solutions and relations than the United States of America. China’s recent diplomatic moves and its announcement of increasing its military budget in 2023 for development have raised many questions about the possibility of China becoming a pole parallel to the United States of America, which is in favor of the emotional expectations of the Chinese people towards their leadership and their ruling Communist Party.
The clear contradiction regarding China’s peaceful diplomacy towards the whole world and towards the Taiwan region in particular as part of its territory, and its continuous military maneuvers around the Taiwanese island on an ongoing basis to send a continuous message to the United States of America and its allies, is the latest example of the two faces that China presents to the whole world and to the Chinese people in particular, presenting China as a peaceful international peacemaker on the one hand, and a fierce dog baring its fangs to defend what Beijing considers part of its territory on the other hand, which is consistent with the emotional expectations of the Chinese people towards their leadership and their ruling Communist Party.
On the other hand, China has begun to find alternatives to replace the controversial diplomat “Zhao Lijian” and the “wolf warrior” theory, through the Chinese promotion of more moderate figures in the Chinese foreign policy file, such as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, although Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued to encourage his diplomatic envoys to show a fighting spirit in diplomatic speeches in defense of China’s point of view regarding its just causes regarding the Taiwan issue, human rights, the rule of law, and rejection of American and Western interference in China’s internal affairs.
China is counting on a number of moderate diplomatic figures to promote China as a global political decision-maker, to serve a number of internal political goals of the Chinese Communist Party and its leadership of Comrade Xi Jinping, by calling for the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, which is a well-established national concept that seeks to restore China’s central position in the world. With the clarification of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision for the future of the Chinese dream, his vision for the future of the Chinese dream began when he first assumed power in late 2012 and early 2013, which reflects the confidence of the current Chinese leadership in President Xi Jinping’s path and approach towards modernization.
At the same time, China unveiled various proposals for global security, development, modernization and global civilization initiatives, in a clear indication by China that it is courting the countries of the “global south” to link them all to the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative in order to link China to the world, by pumping billions into developing countries, which is what the Chinese people all emotionally aspire to in order to link them to the world.
As an expert on Chinese politics and the policies of the ruling Communist Party of China, when I analyzed the speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum 2024, Chinese President Xi referred to his country’s diplomatic orientations, saying: “We should follow the trend of history, work to build a stable international order, uphold the common values of humanity and build a society with a shared future for mankind. We should prefer dialogue to confrontation, inclusion and inclusion to exclusion, and stand up against all forms of unilateralism, economic protectionism, hegemony and power politics”.
Here, Chinese diplomacy, under the leadership of Chinese President Comrade Xi Jinping, addresses the Chinese people themselves, by emphasizing Beijing’s preference for peaceful solutions over conflicts. The propaganda of the ruling Communist Party in China and its official channels through the official Chinese media and its press directed at the Chinese people themselves, also shows that the cornerstone of Chinese diplomatic discourse in many parts of the world is that China considers itself a partner to most countries of the Global South, with no history of colonialism and exploitation, unlike the United States of America and other countries that fall within the description of the West. According to the 2024 Global Diplomacy Index report issued by the Lowy Institute, an independent research institution in Sydney, Australia, the Global Diplomacy Index confirmed, according to the report, China’s diplomatic superiority over the United States of America, according to the report, in Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands region, and Central Asia, while the United States of America maintained its diplomatic superiority over China in Europe, North and Central America, and South Asia, and the two countries tied in the Middle East and South America.
The Global Diplomacy Index relies in its classification of the diplomatic power of about 66 countries around the world, on the number and size of diplomatic missions for each of them in various parts of the world, focusing on areas of diplomatic superiority for Beijing and Washington, as they are the two largest diplomatic powers in the world.
Here, Beijing is trying to show itself as a world peacemaker in line with the desires of its people, and to promote China’s diplomatic steps among its people at home, such as focusing on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 12 proposals to end the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and sending a high-level Chinese envoy to Europe to present political visions for resolving the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. In addition to China’s mediation to resolve the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as one of the most successful Chinese diplomatic steps in the Middle East, in addition to China hosting representatives of the Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah in the Chinese capital, Beijing, to unify the ranks of the Palestinian resistance, with China mediating to resolve the current crisis in Gaza by continuously presenting many proposals between the Palestinian and Israeli parties to mediate an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and make progress on the exchange of hostages and prisoners between the two parties. With China’s continuous call to establish peace through negotiation and take the initiative to assume international responsibility. With China affirming its commitment to an objective and just position on the Palestinian issue, to restore the Palestinian people’s legitimate national rights. We find that after the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the last Gaza war in October 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the virtual extraordinary summit of BRICS leaders on the Palestinian issue, and delivered an important speech therein, stressing the need for an immediate ceasefire between all parties to the conflict. Accordingly, we understand the nature of the emotional language in China’s diplomatic discourse among its people and around the world to emphasize China’s role as a great power that makes peace around the world, according to Chinese diplomacy in the new era led by Comrade Xi Jinping and the new center that establishes his thought as indicated.
