2021-06-15 11:02:14
An analysis of data on overseas visits by the presidents of the United States and China in 1989-2019 shows that China has overtaken the United States in the past decade in the number, duration, and breadth of its presidential diplomacy.
Leadership trips are important because diplomacy is a personalized enterprise where the old adage that “80% of success will just happen” is widely accepted. Xi's travels help him lobby for Beijing's policies.
The number of trips by the President of China has grown steadily since 1989, and in the years since Xi took office in 2013, he has made, on average, more foreign visits annually (14.3) than his American counterparts Barack Obama (13.9) and Donald Trump (12.3).
The average number of days spent abroad rose from 29.6 under Hu Jintao to 34 under Xi. That average has declined for every U.S. president since Bill Clinton, reaching a 23-day low under Donald Trump.
In terms of the number of countries visited, China is also ahead and wins. Xi Jinping averages 9.7 countries a year, up from 7.4 for Obama and 8 for Trump.
In terms of regions, China has surpassed the United States in the number of presidential visits to Africa, Asia, America, Eastern Europe and Oceania over the past decade, reflecting Beijing's strategy to build global influence through economic diplomacy with the developing world. The US President surpassed the Chinese President only on trips to the Middle East and Western Europe, where key American partners and allies such as Israel and NATO countries are located.
The countries with the largest cumulative visits by the presidents of the United States and China were France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and India. This means that both China and the United States view these powers as wavering states in an emerging “strategic competition” for power in global governance, security, and the economy.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-overtakes-america-presidential-diplomacy
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