Source: "WAICO 2026: A New Chapter in AI Diplomacy" (July 23, 2026) — Geneva School of Diplomacy.
https://genevadiplomacy.ch/waico-2026-a-new-chapter-in-ai-diplomacy/
Relevant passage:
"Rather than merely positioning these Chinese-led initiatives as competitive tools in great-power games, they can be better interpreted as constructive contributions to the ongoing multilateral dialogue on transformative technology governance, supplementing and improving the existing fragmented global AI governance architecture."
What this establishes:
China is actively institutionalizing its AI governance framework via the "World AI Cooperation Organization" (WAICO), launched at WAIC 2026. The explicit framing rejects the "great-power competition" lens in favor of a "constructive contribution" narrative. This is a soft-power maneuver: positioning China as the champion of Global South inclusion in AI rulemaking, while framing Western "competition" framing as the obstacle to multilateralism.
The authors (Dr. Wallace Cheng, Dr. Rakesh Krishnan) argue that the "fragmented global AI governance system" (EU's mandatory AI Act, US self-regulation) creates a vacuum that China fills with a "people-centered" approach. They explicitly cite Xi's June 2026 speech at UNCTAD's 60th anniversary as the doctrinal anchor.
Limit / Context:
The article is from a Geneva-based institution (GSD) that publishes extensively on Chinese "community of shared future" concepts. The framing is deliberately non-adversarial and treats Chinese initiatives as inherently multilateral. It omits the domestic reality of AI censorship (e.g., CAC testing LLMs for "political sensitivity" to Xi Jinping) and the use of AI for internal surveillance. Treat this as a primary source for how China wants to be perceived, not as a neutral assessment.