The stakeholder spectrum: China and the United Nations

With China becoming a far more effective player in the United Nations, this paper describes how China conducts itself in New York and the positions it takes on issues such as peacekeeping, Iran and North Korea.

The author, Michael Fullilove lays out these approaches on what he calls a ‘stakeholder spectrum’. China is not yet acting as a ‘responsible stakeholder’, argues Dr Fullilove, however the West should be careful what it wishes for. China’s version of ‘stepping up’ at the UN will not necessarily be the same as the West’s. China’s leaders would probably say that the responsibilities – and prerogatives – of a stakeholder are open to interpretation.