Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman receives Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh on December 8. Photo: Saudi Press Agency / dpa
Opinion
Andrew Leung
Andrew Leung
How Xi’s Saudi Arabia visit shows rise of new world order beyond US hegemony
The liberal world order the US led after World War II is falling apart and taking the credibility of US leadership down with it
Xi Jinping’s warm reception in the Middle East underlines the appeal of its vison of a multilateral, fairer and more inclusive world
After World War II, world peace and prosperity have on the whole endured with a benign US-led liberal world order. That order followed the United Nations Charter of universal respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity, international law, free trade, human rights and non-discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, language or religion.
Nowadays, it appears that this liberal world order has been fraying at the seams, if not falling apart entirely.
US credibility was damaged by its unilateral “war on terror” with charges of weapons of mass destruction. It tore up a painstakingly negotiated Iran nuclear deal. It withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades, handing over a devastated nation to the Taliban.
Neither has the United States presented itself as a shining example on human rights, fair elections and free international trade. The country is still feeling the effects of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and supporters of former US president Donald Trump storming Capitol Hill in 2021.
In the name of national security, anti-China trade tariffs and economic decoupling trample upon World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and spirit. Similarly, it has blocked appointment of new judges to the WTO’s Appellate Body, alleging judicial activism that affects US sovereignty.
President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the first China-Arab States Summit on December 9 warns against the rise of Islamophobia linking terrorism with certain groups of people and religions. He promoted the idea of a multilateral, fairer, more inclusive, and peaceful world oriented towards continuous development.
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Saudi Arabia signs Huawei deal during Chinese leader Xi’s visit despite US security concerns
Saudi Arabia signs Huawei deal during Chinese leader Xi’s visit despite US security concerns
These notions are music to the ears of much of the developing world, including many Arab and Islamic nations. Global dynamics are changing against US hegemony. Eastern and Asian countries are set to gain much greater global influence, as pointed out by authors in such works as Easternization and The Asian 21st Century.
According to a Goldman Sachs report released on December 6, China, India and Indonesia are expected to become the world’s first-, third- and fourth-largest economies, respectively, by 2050. Seven of the eight largest economies will be today’s developing nations by 2075, with the US in third position.
Meanwhile, the US dollar appears to be losing its global status as the petrodollar as the US has become a net energy exporter. China is now the Middle East’s largest energy customer. Xi has promised to buy even more Middle East oil, using the yuan for transaction settlement. As China is the world’s largest trading nation, the yuan will become more internationalised, eroding the US dollar’s capacity for weaponisation.
Amid the controlling position of the US in semiconductor chips, China is leapfrogging into the next generation with photonic chips, integrated optical circuits and quantum chips. Along with its head start in various aspects of 5G technology, big data and the internet of things, China is staying ahead of the game in harnessing the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions.
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Historic nighttime landing for China’s Shenzhou-14 crew after Tiangong space station mission
Historic nighttime landing for China’s Shenzhou-14 crew after Tiangong space station mission
According to an August 2021 report by Georgetown University’s Centre for Security and Emerging Technology, Chinese universities are expected to produce more than 77,000 STEM graduates annually by 2025. That number will outstrip that of US universities more than three to one if international students are excluded. China’s success in building its own Tiangong space station speaks volumes about its scientific and technological capabilities.
The US trade war and decoupling notwithstanding, a Reuters report from November 29 showed that China’s share of global exports remained stable at around 15 per cent. Regardless of lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment rose 14.4 per cent from January to October.
About 80 per cent of European multinational firms in China surveyed by the European Chamber of Commerce reported profit growth in 2021. Three out of four companies surveyed said they were not considering shifting investments out of the country.
While there are concerns in some quarters about a looming collapse, China’s economy is set for a rebound after winding down its “dynamic zero-Covid policy”.
In contrast to the adversarial democracy of the US, in which the two major political parties appear locked in mortal combat, the Communist Party has succeeded in dramatically changing the lives of the Chinese people across the decades. Both the Harvard Kennedy School and the New York-based Edelman Trust Barometer have found that the Communist Party tops the list of governments best supported by their people.
It is no wonder that, acting to guard its own interests, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries acted counter to US calls for expanded production to ease global disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It also shows why, in contrast to US President Joe Biden’s reception in Riyadh, Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia was marked by pomp and circumstance of the highest order, with one-on-one meetings with a series of heads of Arab states.
Xi has said that China has no intention to supplant the US in leading the world. After all, the many blessings of the US – its geographical, ecological, military, economic, financial, scientific, institutional advantages, scope of allies, cultural appeal and so on – remain unrivalled. However, a report in The Washington Post in August asks whether the US is the closest to civil war breaking out since 1861.
To reclaim its global leadership appeal, the US needs to put its own house in order, including better infrastructure, greater economic competitiveness and less socioeconomic inequality.
Above all, it should avoid treating a more multipolar world as its own oyster, leading by example instead of by coercion. Fixating on military superiority and demonising China is no substitute.
Andrew K.P. Leung is an independent China strategist.[email protected]
