While not exactly the shuttle diplomacy so beloved of Henry Kissinger and Hilary Clinton, China's leaders are certainly racking up the air miles as they pay an unprecedented number of friendly calls on near neighbors and distant friends.
There is a new look and feel to China's diplomacy. Never before have China's leaders been so keen to reach out to the world beyond their borders. President Xi Jinping's recent visits to the United States and Britain, his ongoing trip to Vietnam and Singapore; Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) this week; and Liu Yunshan's recent visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are clear indications of a shift in attitude.[Special coverage]
Relations with the United States are a "new model." It is a "golden time" for Sino-British ties. Currently in Vietnam, Xi aims to inject more practical substance into the "comradely and brotherly" friendship. His trip to Singapore will improve China-ASEAN relations and demonstrate once again the high regard China holds for its neighbors.
When Premier Li attended the 5th China-Japan-ROK Business Summit in Seoul last weekend and met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it signaled the end of a period of a diplomatic deadlock brought on by regional tensions and showed the pragmatic and flexible face of China's new diplomacy.
The international environment is increasingly complicated, with suspicions raised over every move China makes. "Asia Rebalancing," the most important U.S. strategic adjustment since the end of the Cold War, complicates China's periphery, as the United States seeks to extend its influence in Asia.
Peaceful economic development is at the heart of China's diplomatic agenda. This is no reactionary foreign policy directed against "rebalancing," but an important transition which began in 2013. That year, trade between China and east and south Asian nations totaled 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars, putting the region ahead of both the European Union and the United States. Policymakers realized that friendly neighbors had become more important for the world's second largest economy than distant friends.
Committed to good neighborliness and a diplomacy based on mutual benefit and inclusiveness, initiatives -- the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for example and, perhaps most notably, the Belt and Road -- require cordial and relaxed relations with the nations in China's hinterland.
Neighborhood diplomacy is not just about neighbors. Though not even in the region, Britain has expressed great interest in the AIIB and was one of the first of the bank's 57 prospective founding members to sign up.
These moves also concern Sino-U.S. ties, as the United States pushes its nose into South China Sea issues and joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries, most of them in China's closest sphere of influence.
By putting forward new ideas such as the "community of common destiny" -- a new concept for Asian security -- China does not seek dominance over regional affairs but sees development potential for itself in offering opportunities to other countries. If your neighbors become more prosperous, chances are you will share in that success.
Win-win cooperation is not an old chestnut, but a way of sharing the spoils where everyone stands to benefit.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi summed it up when he said China's development is not about "moving other people's cheese" nor is it about "creating spheres of influence." It is about "making the pie bigger" and everyone getting a bigger slice.
