As US cedes multilateral space, Chinese top envoy Wang Yi turns on the charm

How far China will step up - monetarily and otherwise - remains to be seen

- Joyce ZK Lim

SHENZHEN - First the Munich Security Conference, then the United Nations, and finally the Group of 20 (G-20).

China's top diplomat Wang Yi has traversed three continents in the past week, voicing support for multilateralism and casting the world's second-largest economy as a responsible international player.

This comes as the US looks to be moving away from the prevailing global order - the very architecture that it had helped to create and underwrite.

To a roomful of his peers from some of the world's largest economies, the Chinese Foreign Minister declared on Feb 20 in South Africa that countries should work together as "defenders of multilateralism" and "guardians of world peace".

"The more complex the international situation and the more prominent global challenges become, the more important it is to uphold the authority of the UN and give full play to its role," he said.

But among the attendees, one absence was obvious: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted the gathering of G-20 foreign ministers in Johannesburg, citing issues with the host and its agenda.

America was represented by its acting ambassador to South Africa at the two-day meeting discussing global challenges and cooperation.

"As the US withdraws from multilateralism and engages more in unilateralism, China wants to play a more active role on the multilateral stage," said Professor Wu Xinbo, an international relations scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai.

In itself, Mr Wang's plug for upholding the international order was hardly new.

"For quite a while, China has positioned itself as a promoter of as well as an active participant in multilateralism," said Associate Professor Hoo Tiang Boon of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

But the actions of the current US administration have "certainly made it easier" for China to push this message, noted the expert in Chinese foreign policy.