Smile diplomacy

THE Chinese government calls it—pick your phrase—a “harmonised world” or a “new security concept”, but Shi Yinhong of the People's University in Beijing expresses it more felicitously: “smile diplomacy”. Whatever it is called, the calculus behind it is simple, if not usually spelt out. Without encouraging peace and prosperity around China's long borders there will be no peace and prosperity at home. And without peaceful development at home the Chinese Communist Party is toast. This calculus has become increasingly important over the past decade and may well apply for decades more yet.