India has consistently pushed-back against Trump’s mediation claims
Wang Yi was articulating China’s Global Security Initiative
China wants to minimise the influence of the US in the region
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi’s claim of being a mediating force in several conflicts around the world including India-Pakistan was a surprise to many in this country. Like all senior Chinese leaders Wang is not given to speaking off the cuff. All statements coming from the CPC leadership are deliberate and well thought out. So what was this statement all about?
Was China following in US President Donald Trump’s footsteps, and taking credit for all peace moves around the world? Trump has repeated more than fifty times that he had brokered the ceasefire that stopped South Asia’s two nuclear armed neighbours from continuing their dangerous air war.
India has consistently pushed-back against Trump’s claims, maintaining that the ceasefire was worked out by the Indian and Pakistani DGMOs. (Director General of Military Operations). New Delhi naturally also denies any third-party involvement, including China’s.
However Wang Yi’s statement has more to do with the projection of China’s long-term global security doctrine and its place as a global power with ambitions to eventually replace American dominance, than a reaction to Donald Trump’s peace making claims. Wang Yi is merely enunciating the Chinese Communist Party’s vision of the world.
“This year, local wars and cross-border conflicts flared up more often than at any time since the end of WWII. Geopolitical turbulence continued to spread”, Wang said, speaking at the symposium on the “International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations” in Beijing.
"Following this Chinese approach to settling hotspot issues, we mediated in northern Myanmar, the Iranian nuclear issue, the tensions between Pakistan and India, the issues between Palestine and Israel, and the recent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand," he explained.
``If he said this it is to challenge Trump’s peace-making blitz. Now Thailand and Cambodia have signed a renewed peace agreement in Beijing. Wang Yi may have meant that they advised Pakistan to seek a ceasefire (given the beating Pakistan was getting), Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal explained.
However scholars like M.S.Prathibha of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), who follows China closely have a different view. She believes it is in keeping with Xi Jinping’s world view.
``China has been quite serious about playing a more significant role in global governance. Under its Global Security Initiative, it has been encouraging political settlement in regional hotspots. China claims to have played a positive role in many regional issues including Ukraine, Middle East, Southeast Asia and so on,’’ explains Prathibha. However, what exactly was China’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy is not known.
Wang Yi was articulating China’s Global Security Initiative, first laid out by President Xi Jinping in April 2022. This together with the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilisational Initiative form the core of a rising China’s vision of promoting a China-centric world view, that is very different from the American and Western view of the world.
The Security Initiative is to build a peaceful world with a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. China also wants to reassure the world of its ``peaceful rise’’ and the fact that as a dominant power it is for constructive engagement with the world.
``However, China had so far avoided speaking on India-Pakistan, and only offered mediation much later after the Pahalgamterrorist attacks. Its mention of India-Pakistan, though has no basis in reality as India would have rejected any Chinese mediation, and any mediation requires the consent of the two parties, however shows that China has its own geopolitical goals regarding the way it wants international community to view China's role as positive in the region, especially its relationship with Pakistan,’’ says Prathibha.
``China’s interests in South Asia are long-term and if it can successfully convince the international community it has taken a proactive role in defusing the crisis, then that can ensure its relevance in the politics of the region in the long-term. Moreover, China also wants to minimize the influence of the US in the region, which it believes is detrimental to its strategic interests, such as BRI projects and securing alternative routes to the Indian Ocean region", she explains.
Seen in this light, Wang Yi’s remark is not about brokering peace between India and Pakistan, nor about echoing Donald Trump’s claims. It is about China asserting relevance in a contested global order, reducing American influence, and embedding itself deeper into South Asia’s security discourse.
