China changes its foreign stance

For many years, this was exactly what China did. Beijing tended to go along with the majority in the United Nations and allowed other countries to take the lead.

And when it was opposed in principle to a resolution, China did not exercise its veto but chose to abstain, as it did in 1990 when the Security Council authorized the use of force to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

Even in more recent years, when the Security Council voted to impose sanctions on Sudan for the bloodshed in Darfur, China repeatedly abstained despite its interests in the country and its opposition to sanctions.

Now, however, it appears that China has shed much of its inhibitions. Speaking in Munich on Friday, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made it clear that China was prepared to stand alone in opposing sanctions against Iran, even if Russia were to join the western camp.

Mr. Yang was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the first time that a Chinese foreign minister has taken part in the 46-year-old annual forum.

As if to show that China had finally arrived, Mr. Yang in his speech demanded that China's voice be heard on the world stage. “We have one fifth of mankind,” he said. “At least we deserve a chance to express our view on how things should be run in the world.”

The foreign minister also used the occasion to castigate the United States for selling weapons to Taiwan and said the action was a violation of “the code of conduct among nations.”

A commentary in the China Daily, too, made it clear that Beijing expects Washington to behave differently now that China is strong and the United States is in decline. “Times are changing,” said the commentary. “China deems that it is time to let U.S. feel the pain of deteriorating Sino-U.S. relations.”

Such rhetoric is new to China. After biding its time for two decades, it seems, Beijing feels that the time has finally come for it to speak its mind without fearing how the United States might react.

Of course, China's voice should be heeded in international councils. In fact, making room for China to play a bigger role in world affairs was one of the goals of the Obama administration.

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