The Rise of China within Global Governance

Abstract

Rather than a rising, the contemporary ascent of China can be better described as a return to the nation’s historical position as a leading political, cultural, economic, and military power. Historically, China held a position at the center of a regional power structure referred to in the West as the ‘tributary system’.¹ Song Nianshen, who prefers the term zongfan, or hierarchy system, to tributary system, highlighted that the system was far more than an interstate system; it was a multilateral and multilayered system of international relations. According to Song, the state-to-state relationships within the tributary system were ‘woven into a complex, multilevel power nexus composed of interconnections among multiple political, economic, ideological, and science and technological cores and peripheries’.² This conception of China’s position at the center of a complex, multilevel power nexus has a profound effect on China’s ontological understanding of its role within international relations and on states’ management of their interactions. Therefore, the re-emergence of China as a leading power in politics and economics produces a different ontological understanding and raises fundamental questions regarding the future of global governance: Is China attempting to regain its position at the center of global governance? Do China’s actions within the bodies and organizations that constitute global governance corroborate this view?