@Kiss_of_the_Dragon Perfect lead in for this article that I was about to post.
---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-caps-big-week-of-diplomacy-1416239570
China Caps Big Week of Diplomacy
In Raft of Deals, Xi Shows New Confidence to Seek Middle Ground With Rivals
Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Australian Parliament in Canberra on Monday. EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
By CHUN HAN WONG
Updated Nov. 17, 2014 7:52 p.m. ET
BEIJING—In completing a free-trade pact with Australia, President
Xi Jinping capped a whirlwind week for Chinese diplomacy that showed a Beijing comfortable seeking middle ground with wary rivals and neighbors.
In a diplomatic blitz to international summits in China, Myanmar and Australia, Mr. Xi and other Chinese leaders set a détente with Japan, reached climate-change and military accords with the U.S., secured several trade agreements, offered a “friendship” treaty to Southeast Asia and smoothed the path for an international front against corruption.
Taken together, the breadth and depth of these initiatives painted a picture of a country willing to, at least temporarily, put aside displays of strength and prickly admonitions.
“China will never develop itself at the expense of others,” Mr. Xi told Australia’s Parliament on Monday after the signing of a free-trade pact with Canberra. His comments drew a standing ovation from lawmakers.
Beijing’s latest charm offensive marks a contrast with its assertiveness in pursuing territorial claims earlier this year and surprised some observers who had gotten used to fraught ties between China and many of its neighbors.
Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan holds a wombat in Canberra on Monday, alongside President Xi Jinping and Australia’s Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove. DAVID GRAY/PRESS POOL
The week advanced Mr. Xi’s vision for a new Asian order centered on Beijing, and comes as the U.S. and Japan seek to offer convincing counterweights to China’s growing clout, with Washington distracted by crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, and with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe facing economic headwinds that could erode his mandate.
“China has been experimenting with aid and development as a tool of soft power,” said Merriden Varrall, a China expert at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a Sydney-based think tank. “They’re finding that—if used in the right way—it can help win warmer relations with other countries.”
China’s new approach followed an intense internal debate over its foreign policy over the past year, in which Beijing placed priority on economic development and the avoidance of confrontation, while standing fast on what it sees as “core national interests,” said Huang Jing, an expert on Chinese politics and foreign policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
“The debate here is whether China should pursue foreign policy based on its capabilities, or based on its national interests in a manner consistent with the moral high ground it wants to occupy,” Mr. Huang said. “China now pursues foreign policy on the basis of ‘what we should do’ and not ‘what we can do,’ and that’s a major change.”
Whether China’s diplomatic push can pay lasting dividends remains to be seen. Much of the development and aid Beijing is using to draw in neighbors is effectively bankrolled by a still-prosperous economy that is starting to lose steam.
Many of China’s neighbors will remain distrustful of its intentions. For Beijing, a soft touch on trade and cultural fronts often goes hand in hand with tough stances on security and sovereignty, said Ms. Varrall.
For now, China’s conciliatory overtures were greeted with cautious approval.
In Myanmar, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations welcomed Chinese Premier
Li Keqiang ’s offers of increased economic aid and defense cooperation, while Vietnam and the Philippines—which have borne the brunt of Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea—struck conciliatory tones over their maritime disputes with Beijing.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, meanwhile, hailed progress on a free-trade pact that would give Korean firms greater access to Chinese markets.
President
Barack Obama —after concluding deals with Mr. Xi on climate change, military, trade and visa issues—described the accords as a major milestone in an important two-way relationship that has been characterized by distrust.
The diplomatic push extends efforts in recent months by Mr. Xi to map out a more integrated Asia that puts China at its center, with new trade and transport links to Central Asia and Europe. In practice, this has meant supplanting perceived acts of aggression over maritime disputes with offers of greater trade and investment.
At the Asean summit last week, Premier Li offered some $20 billion in loans for infrastructure and development projects.
To Myanmar, once a close Chinese ally that has sought stronger ties with the U.S. after years of isolation under military rule, Beijing pledged to invest roughly $8 billion in sectors including energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and finance.
Perceptions of a wavering U.S. commitment to Asia have also made some Asian countries more open to improving ties with China as insurance against a weaker U.S. presence.
Singapore—which has long kept strong ties with the U.S. and China—joined the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member, despite U.S. efforts to sow doubt around the new lender among its Asian allies.
Australians, meanwhile, have extended a warm welcome to Mr. Xi, who represents an opportunity to shore up Australia’s flagging economy and shift away from a decadelong reliance on mining.
“No Chinese president has ever known more about Australia than President Xi,” Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday.
Such accolades were another sign that the week also bolstered Mr. Xi’s global credentials. Many international commentators had come to perceive the Chinese president as an “inscrutable, yet powerful and tough figure,” said Ms. Varrall. “In the last week, he has presented as amiable, approachable and statesmanlike.”
—Rob Taylor contributed to this article.
