ISLAMABAD – For the first time, China has more diplomatic missions aroundthe world than the United States, according to a study published Wednesdaythat offered fresh evidence of Beijing’s global ambitions.
Australia’s respected Lowy Institute reported that China’s “rapid” rise upthe rankings of diplomatic networks continued in 2019, boosted by theopening of diplomatic posts in countries that had previously recognizedTaiwan.
“With 276 posts globally, China has for the first time surpassed the UnitedStates’ network by three posts,” authors of the biennial Global DiplomacyIndex said.
In results likely to be read as a bellwether for geopolitical shifts, thethink tank said US diplomacy had “entered a period of limbo,” withPresident Donald Trump’s budget cuts and troubles retaining careerdiplomats.
The United States opened no new posts and was forced to shutter itsconsulate in Saint Petersburg — amid tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsionsfollowing the alleged poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Britain.
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But the US remained the most popular place to have an embassy or consulate,with the 61 countries covered having a total of 342 posts versus 256foreign diplomatic missions in China.
At the same time, Beijing’s footprint continued to grow, with new missionspopping up in “Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, theGambia, and Sao Tome, and Principe — all former diplomatic friends ofTaipei.”
