China has the most diplomatic posts in the world: Study

WITH 123 EMBASSIES AND HIGH COMMISSIONS AND 54 CONSULATES, INDIA IS PLACED 12TH AMONG THE 61 NATIONS RANKED BY SYDNEYBASED LOWY INSTITUTE

BEIJING:China now has more diplomatic posts across the world than the US, a marker of its growing international clout and ambition, an Australian think tank said on Wednesday.

China’s expansion in worldwide diplomatic presence has come partly at the expense of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, which Beijing says is a breakaway province.

The 2019 Global Diplomacy Index released on Wednesday by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute gives the latest statistics, marking how the world’s diplomatic networks are expanding and, in certain cases, shrinking.

China overtook the US in 2019 with 276 embassies and consulates worldwide, which is three more than the US. The study said both countries have an equal number of embassies, but Beijing has three more consulates.

The next three spots on the list are occupied by France, Japan, and Russia.

India is 12th among the 61 countries ranked by Lowy Institute. As of 2019, New Delhi has 123 embassies and high commissions and 54 consulates globally.

Despite slipping to No 2, “the US remains - by a wide margin - the most popular place for countries to maintain embassies and consulates. The US is home to some 342 posts belonging to the 61 countries included in the index. China, with 256, is a distant second”, wrote Bonnie Bley, the Lowy Institute research fellow who compiled the list.

China’s expansion, however, has been rapid. “In two years, Beijing has grown its network by five diplomatic posts, following the opening of seven new missions and the shutdown of two. It’s ascent to the top spot has been rapid. In 2016, China was in third place behind the US and France, and by 2017, it had moved to second place ahead of France,” Bley wrote in her analysis.

Beijing’s global diplomatic outreach has been aided by its economic clout as under President Xi Jinping, it has been pumping billions of dollars into the Belt and Road Initiative.