As US President Donald Trump announces plans to withdraw from various international organizations and agreements, China is positioning itself as a world leader and is using the opportunity to fill the void left by the United States in the world, say analysts.
On his first day in office after Monday’s inauguration, Trump signed executive orders that began the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first term.
The Republican president’s actions cast doubt on the future of global public health responses and climate goals, and leave a leadership vacuum that China can try to fill.
“This creates opportunities for China to continue to strengthen its influence in global institutions and help govern the world,” said Gregory Chin, a professor of political economy at York University in Toronto.
Indeed, China seems to be sending those signals already.
A message from China
In what could be seen as a timed meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke via video just hours after Trump’s inauguration, stressing the continuity of their alliance.
“I am willing to work with you to continue to steer China-Russia relations to a new level by 2025, to respond to external uncertainties,” Xi reportedly told Putin.
The Chinese leader said he wanted to “maintain justice and international justice.”
Accordingly, the Chinese authorities expressed their words this Tuesday at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, praising the country’s commitment to the fight against climate change.
“China has always been a staunch supporter of international cooperation,” said Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, adding that the country “firmly adheres to the international system … and firmly upholds the international order based on international law.”
Regarding “peace and security,” Ding said “China has the best history among the world’s great powers.”
On Tuesday and at a press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated China’s concerns about the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
“Climate change is a common challenge facing all of humanity,” he said. “China’s determination and actions to actively respond to climate change go hand in hand.”
During Trump’s first term, the US also withdrew from several international agreements, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
It seems that you are continuing in the same way.
When Trump won the presidential election over Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, in November, Jia Wang, senior fellow and senior adviser at the China Institute at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, he told CBC News that China can make money in shape.
“China can take this opportunity to make more friends or at least reduce rivals and enemies,” he said.
Development costs
As the US turns inward, and as the new president heralds the start of “America’s golden age” and the end of its “decline,” China is asserting itself.
“Anecdotally, the Trump administration is likely to lower America’s position in the world relative to China,” said York University’s Chin.
At least in the climate area, China has been positioning itself as a green leader years, making efforts aimed at achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 – including investing in renewable energy and leading the world in electric vehicles and batteries. That’s despite it still being the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for a third of global emissions.
But this position, however strategic, is emerging out of necessity, said Yongjing Zhang, associate professor of economics and politics at the University of Ottawa.
“China really cares about climate change,” Zhang said, adding that the country now suffers from the “costs” of rapid development. “No matter what happens in other countries, China will do it [address it].”
Simply put, it has no choice.
Universal health coverage
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo reiterated strong support for the World Health Organization following Trump’s announcement, saying that China “as always, will support the WHO in fulfilling its mission, and deepen international cooperation in public health.”
Trump has accused the agency, which is a United Nations agency, of being biased against China and criticized its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic – as he did during his first term in office, when he again moved out of the US Joe BIden, Trump’s successor. as president after his first term, he later reversed the decision.
However, China’s future role in the health sector is unclear, despite its messages. The US is far away the main financial sponsor of the agency, it accounts for about 18 percent of its total funding. The latest WHO budget for 2024-25 was 6.8 billion US dollars.
It is not yet clear how that funding gap will be closed, as experts have warned that the move could weaken public health security around the world – and could weaken the world’s defenses against future pandemics and infectious diseases.
Being an ally ‘doesn’t matter now’
Emerging from the early days of Trump’s administration are indications that America’s allies are increasingly worried about what the confident Trump will say in his second term, given his lack of self-confidence.
“You have to throw the terms of friendship with your friends out the window,” said Lynette Ong, distinguished professor of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto. “That doesn’t matter now.”
Ong said that while China can confirm itself, he would like to see more evidence of the country making good on its words.
But York University’s Chin said US isolationism would eventually mean other countries would face a decision in the alliance process.
“It’s a choice between aligning yourself with a progressive America or a set of multiple options,” he said.
Those options, Chin said, could include BRICS countrieswhich includes China and Russia.
US President Donald Trump will not impose the tariffs he promised on Canada, Mexico or China on his first day in office, according to several US reports, giving this country something to postpone, at least for now.
“If you are in the West, you can see this as a threat to the so-called rules-based international order,” he said. “But if you’re in the rest of the world, you might say some of these changes might be improvements.”
Like Trump threatens high prices in countries Like China, Canada and Mexico, China reduced tariffs on hundreds of goods this month coming into the country. And without prompting, Chin suggests it may be just one more reason for other nations to strengthen ties with the country while the US distances itself.
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