Beijing’s Perspectives on a UN-Centred Global Order

Abstract

Rosemary Foot uses China’s May 2026 presidency of the UN Security Council to look at how Beijing wants the UN to work. Wang Yi’s five-point statement, together with China’s positions on UN80 reform and its Global Governance Initiative, presents the UN as a state-led platform. In that picture, sovereignty and development come first and China’s influence grows. Foot argues that supporters of a liberal UN should work out which Chinese proposals to resist and where cooperation is still possible.