Beijing’s push for global cooperation is clearly self-interested, but even US allies in the West can see the benefits of multilateralism
3-MIN READ3-MINDavid GorombolyiDavid Gorombolyi is a lecturer, ex-diplomat and writer. Published: 4:30pm, 26 Aug 2026As Washington increasingly turns away from the multilateral order it once helped build, Beijing is emerging as an advocate of international cooperation and rules-based stability. For some, the real surprise is that China’s rise is not challenging the world order but that its interests align with preserving it.When I met Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the corridor of a congress centre in Myanmar, he had just finished addressing more than 50 foreign ministers, emphasising the need for a multilateral, cooperative approach to our shared future. It was 2017, and the message was what you would expect in a ceremonial speech. Few in that hall could have imagined that less than a decade later, serious Western leaders would regard China as one of the foremost advocates of the international order.
On the contrary, it is calling for an end to this world order that has long been defined by domination. In Beijing’s view, the future is written through multilateral cooperation, respect for the international legal order and finding win-win solutions to all major global dilemmas.
