China’s Leadership in the United Nations: Image Management and Institutional Legitimacy

The public in democratic states increasingly view China as a threat. As China takes on leadership roles in key United Nations (UN) agencies, we examine how such positions affect its image in democratic societies where collaboration with China is often met with skepticism or rejection. We argue that a rising power can use IO leadership to improve its image among foreign publics. However, these efforts may have negative effects on the perceived legitimacy of IOs, which may be subsequently viewed as subject to major power capture. We test these expectations in pre-registered survey experiments in Brazil---a China-friendly case---and France---a China-skeptical case---finding that while China's leadership of the UN enhances its image in the skeptical country context, it negatively affects IO legitimacy in both populations. To a lesser extent, US leadership of IOs also reduces their legitimacy, suggesting publics are also concerned about great power control of IOs broadly. These findings advance our understanding of China's image management and IO legitimacy, contributing to broader debates on China’s growing role in global governance.

民主国家民众愈发将中国视为威胁。随着中国在联合国（United Nations, UN）核心机构中担任领导职务，本研究探讨此类任职将如何影响其在民主社会中的形象——在这些社会中，与中国开展合作往往会遭到质疑或抵制。我们认为，崛起大国可通过执掌国际组织（International Organization, IO）来改善自身在外国公众中的形象。然而此类举措可能会对国际组织的感知合法性产生负面影响，后续国际组织可能被视为受大国操控。我们在巴西（对华友好案例）与法国（对华怀疑论案例）开展预注册调查实验以验证上述预期，结果发现：尽管中国执掌联合国可在持怀疑态度的国家语境中改善自身形象，但该行为会在两类民众中均损害国际组织的合法性。同样，美国执掌国际组织也会在较小程度上降低其合法性，这表明公众整体上也担忧大国操控国际组织。本研究增进了学界对中国形象管理与国际组织合法性的认知，为围绕中国在全球治理中日益凸显的角色展开的广泛讨论贡献了新的学术视角。