The Challenge of China for the Liberal International Order

China is willing to talk about the “rules-based order” by crowning it with the skeptical term “so-called,” thus criticizing it as a system established by the U.S. for the ultimate benefit of the U.S. and its allies. Beijing thinks the global system must be modified to suit their interests, or otherwise it will conspire against them and corrode their grip on power at home. The country has benefited more than anyone from the post-Cold War liberalization of the economic order. While downplaying human rights, democracy and shared values, China attempts to set global rules at the UN on international economy and finance, regional cooperation, and emerging areas such as the oceans, the poles, cyberspace, and outer space, and, where it sees further chances, launch rival or parallel bodies—the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, and the BRICS, for example. Beijing had once accommodated the rules-based order, but now it feels that the rules-based order must accommodate China.