CHINA’S GLOBAL SOUTH DIPLOMACY: HOW THE LANGUAGE OF SOVEREIGNTY AND DEVELOPMENT SHAPES ITS INTERNATIONAL ROLE (2022–2026)
Kalit so‘zlar:
Global South, China, sovereignty, development, discourse, Global Development Initiative, Global Governance Initiative, BRICS, Central Asia, Uzbekistan.Annotatsiya
The article examines how the People’s Republic of China uses the language of sovereignty and development to build its role as a leader of the Global South in 2022–2026. Drawing on constructivist approaches to norms and status, the study analyses China’s official discourse – the Global Development, Security, Civilization and Governance Initiatives, white papers and speeches by its leaders – and compares it with China’s actual practice: the expansion of BRICS, mediation in the Middle East, zero-tariff treatment for the least developed and African countries, and its policy in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan. The author argues that these two vocabularies are not mere rhetoric. They allow Beijing to present itself simultaneously as a defender of the existing UN-centred order and as an advocate of its reform, to turn the shared historical experience of developing countries into political support, and to win votes in international institutions. At the same time, the effectiveness of this discourse is limited by the gap between words and deeds: trade imbalances, debt problems, territorial disputes and competition with other “voices” of the Global South, above all India. China’s role is therefore best described as that of a selective and contested, rather than recognised, leader of the Global South.
