China’s weaving of a web of ties makes it a diplomatic superpower

Beijing hosted the presidents of the United States and Russia within days of each other recently. China’s rising diplomatic standing is no accident. It is grounded in a tradition of relational diplomacy stretching back centuries and reflected in the growing recognition across capitals that Beijing is a reliable partner.
The clearest articulation of China’s foreign policy ethos comes from academic Qin Yaqing, a former president of China Foreign Affairs University, which has trained more than 600...