Chinese president increasingly becoming a force in global diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves at an event to introduce new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. [AP Photo]

Diplomacy, the art of persuading friends and rivals to serve one's interests, has occasional stars standing above other diplomats. Chinese President Xi Jinping is a 'grand strategist, prominent in the current geopolitical realignment, and has the ability. While playing high-level diplomacy that leaves contemporaries in disarray, he avoids giving impressions of being domineering. He takes advantage of the weaknesses of other leaders, which include lack of clarity, display of contempt for the rest of the world, and attempts to force 'regime changes'.

The contrast between Xi and the rest is vivid in the Ukrainian crisis; Xi has links with both sides. Russia and Ukraine are locked up in a survival struggle that is also personal between Vladimir Putin and Volodymir Zelensky. Ukraine and Zelensky are proxies for Washington's desire to prove that the US is 'back' to lead the world. With such American allies as Saudi Arabia peeling off, Xi looks attractive as the new global peacemaker. He takes that role with confounding 'gusto'. He leads, others agree.