Thanks, but no thanks? Parsing China’s response to Trump’s Board of Peace invitation

SINGAPORE – In the days before and after US President Donald Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” to the world’s elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan 22, China’s official response to the new international body has been characteristically terse.

Fielding questions from journalists on the issue over four days from Jan 20 to 23 during its regular press briefings, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said only that

China received an invitation to join the board,

and that it is committed to

safeguarding an international system with the United Nations at its core.