China’s veto of a UN resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown on anti-government protestors has been widely criticised in the Western press, echoing the frank appraisals of such politicians as Hillary Clinton and the French Defence Minister, Gerard Longuet.

What the veto says about China, however, has received considerably less coverage.  Though it typically chooses to abstain when it holds reservations or disagrees with the subject of a vote, this time Beijing elected to actively sink the proposal to condemn the Assad regime’s behaviour.

China often declares its opposition to any attempt to impinge upon the sovereignty of other countries, fearing that one day the West may shift its attention to Chinese policies in Tibet and Xinjiang.  In the wake of the ousting of Libya’s Gaddafi, it was also concerned about the consequences of allowing a resolution condemning another Arab leader to pass. Beijing abstained when faced with a resolution to establish a no fly zone over Libya and then looked on appalled as NATO, from China’s perspective, not only overstepped its mandate, but hurdled it.

The decision to veto the Syrian resolution, however, seems to have been motivated by more than such sentiments.  Recent years have seen China adopt a more assertive approach to territorial claims in the South China Sea, offer blunt criticism of the West’s economic profligacy and pursue attempts to increase its own soft power.

Such behaviour is indicative of China’s growing confidence.  Though Beijing seems to have concluded that it overplayed its hand during the height of the Global Financial Crisis and its recent behaviour has been comparatively restrained, it is nevertheless apparent that China is much less willing to keep its head down and defer to the West.  It seems likely that as its power grows relative to that of the US, this trend will continue to develop.  This veto was a rare flexing of China’s diplomatic muscle in the UN Security Council; it is also likely to become more common.