Conclusion
This chapter begins with a summary of the main findings deriving from the issue areas covered in this study. It also assesses the extent to which China’s growing power has been used in service of the firmer articulation of its ideological beliefs, together with an effort to reconstitute what it means to be a responsible great power in the global system. The chapter concludes that China’s own triadic model linking together developmentalism, the strong state, and social stability has established a place in the UN’s understanding of how human protection can best be obtained, leading to a potential diminution in the UN’s attachment to and association with its three-pillar structure of development, peace and security, and human rights as the best guarantees of the wellbeing of humankind. China is found to be a conservative actor, working to restrict the human protection focus of the UN Security Council, and to weaken the emphasis on civil and political rights as major sources of protection. The Chinese leadership’s preference is for the UN to reinforce its position as an inter-state governance mechanism where national authorities decide on priorities, and international actors are enablers of the government in power. However, the UN’s resilience in liberal normative areas and resistance to change should also not be overlooked, and remain capable of constraining China’s ability to shape new understandings of human protection. This is especially so where the different constituencies working within the UN remain attentive to the opportunities that its design, membership, and embedded procedures have provided it.