A closer look at China’s June 17 white paper, “More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions,” repays the effort. Much of the 45-page document is what one expects—a recitation of China’s own record and the count of “nearly 160 countries” said to back its Global Governance Initiative. The paper puts forward several concrete proposals that deserve attention.
The most notable proposals relate to the international financial system. The paper demands that “the World Bank... conduct shareholding reviews and the International Monetary Fund... carry out quota share realignment in accordance with the agreed timeframes and roadmaps”—that the Bretton Woods institutions finally deliver the shift in voting power toward developing nations they have promised and stalled for years. It presses, too, for a UN Security Council reform prioritizing Africa, “to address the historical injustice” suffered by the countries of the continent.
These are demands on institutions the West controls, and Beijing will press them this September, when the UN General Assembly opens its general debate. China will formally champion the Initiative and rally the Global South behind it. The Assembly cannot itself force the changes: Security Council reform requires amending the UN Charter with the consent of the very powers asked to give up the relative power of their seats, and IMF and World Bank quota shifts are decided by those institutions’ own weighted boards, where Washington holds an effective veto. September is a time to intensify the campaign for these reforms.
