The People’s Republic of China is central to current debates about power shifts in international organisations, but a systematic and comprehensive assessment of China-related shifts has been missing. This Special Issue contributes to addressing this gap and examines whether, how and to what extent China-related power shifts have unfolded at the United Nations (UN) over the last two decades or so. It covers empirical insights from the UN’s three main pillars – peace and security, development, and human rights – and paints an uneven picture. Despite continuing Western dominance, China is mobilising more compulsory power than two decades ago. Chinese attempts to enact institutional power have also increased but mostly unfold in multilateral niches and remain cautious. While China’s structural power position has expanded, China-related effects in productive power have so far remained limited and scattered.
Special Issue Introduction
Power shifts in international organisations: China at the United Nations - Sebastian Haug, Rosemary Foot and Max-Otto Baumann
Special Issue Contributions
Reining in a liberal UN: China, power shifts, and the UN's peace and security pillar - Rosemary Foot
Accommodation available: China, Western powers and the operation of structural power in the UN Security Council - Richard Gowan
‘Wolf Warriors’ in the UN Security Council? Investigating power shifts through blaming - Nicolas Verbeek
From developing country to superpower? China, power shifts and the United Nations development pillar - Max-Otto Baumann, Sebastian Haug and Silke Weinlich
Comprehensive power shifts in the making: China's policy transfer partnerships with the United Nations - Sebastian Haug and Laura Trajber Waisbich
China, power and the United Nations Special Procedures: Emerging threats to the “crown jewels” of the international human rights system - Rana Siu Inboden
Powers of persuasion? China's struggle for human rights discourse power at the UN - Malin Oud
Is power shifting? China's evolving engagement with UNESCO - Wenting Meng
Chinese power in the World Heritage Committee: From learning the game to shaping the rules - Steven Langendonk and Edith Drieskens
A mixed funding pattern: China's exercise of power within the United Nations - Xueying Zhang and Yijia Jing
Personnel power shift? Unpacking China's attempts to enter the UN civil service - Shing-hon Lam and Courtney J. Fung
Between co-optation and emancipation: Chinese women's NGOs and power shifts at the United Nations - Yiping Cai
