Looking back at Xi's diplomacy(3)

Sharing profits

On August 8, in an interview with The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Obama claimed that China had been a free rider for 30 years, and that no one expected China to play the role. Half a month later, when visiting Mongolia, Xi seemingly gave an indirect response to the US accusation. During his address at the Mongolian parliament on August 22, Xi said, "China is willing to offer opportunities and room to Mongolia and other neighbors for common development. You can take a ride on our express train or simply hitchhike. All are welcome."

In fact, China not only sincerely welcomes its neighbors to share the fruits of its development but has also taken many concrete measures already. For example, it has tirelessly promoted the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road that encompass a large number of Asian, European and African economies.

China has also announced a $40-billion Silk Road Fund to improve infrastructure in Asia. The "One Belt and One Road" initiatives both focus on Asian countries. Through them, China aims to build a "community of destiny" together with its neighbors by strengthening interconnectivity to provide these countries with more public goods.

In the meantime, China has also committed to a $50-billion investment of funds in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in addition to a $41-billion contribution to the $100-billion emergency reserve fund to be launched by BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Another major move China takes in 2014 is expanding regional trade liberalization. In the past year, China substantially concluded bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with South Korea and Australia, respectively. It has also sped up the negotiations on an upgraded China-ASEAN FTA and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia.

At the foreign affairs meeting in November, Xi urged China's diplomatic service to give full consideration to both domestic and international markets, both domestic and foreign resources as well as both domestic and international rules; to act in good faith and uphold justice; and to promote a new type of international relations featuring mutually beneficial cooperation.

The year of 2014 saw the ushering in of China's new diplomacy, yet the road ahead could be full of uncertainties. Will the "One Belt and One Road" initiatives come out of the geopolitical shadow? Can the Asia-Pacific free trade blueprint proposed by China be compatible with the US-dominated Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement? Will the West put more pressure on China using human rights as an excuse? And can China-US relations and China-Japan relations see more improvement in the future? Xi's leadership must confront all of these challenges step by step.