China is becoming a more important player on all of Nye's three chessboards, a fact that creates the necessity for flexible grand strategies, lest rigidly following old policies and mentalities would lead the country astray.

China is assuming a continuously bigger role in international affairs. In doing so, how China could then in turn ensure its fundamental interests while winning the respect, support and at least understanding of others, is a question that could relate to game theory in a chess match.

Strategy is embedded in China's culture. Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and the Go game contain equal, if not larger, amounts of game theory than does chess. China's heavy historical deposit, including that of the most recent century, is the foundation for grand strategies. Yet the same historical deposit to some extent also bottlenecks grand strategies from being enacted.

In particular, China's foreign affairs authorities are yet to build up the following three capabilities: dealing with regional issues with an overall look, influencing the overall situation from dealing with regional problems, and anticipating crisis.

The international situation is changing faster than the improvement of diplomats' own proficiency. That is why China cannot ideally expect diplomacy will bring over more friends and more space because a mediocre diplomacy, one that lacks the spirit in game theory, is doomed to be fragile.

The current crisis in Ukraine, which has initiated the Russia-U.S. contention, is a vivid textbook case for China. Beijing should not copy the chauvinism ideology of the superpowers, but assume a more active and constructive stance in its effort to develop itself as well as to preserve world peace.

China cannot separate itself from the various issues happening across the world, but must act like a decent chess player, as per the "chess urge" coming from President Xi. China's diplomats should have a clear understanding of the country's capacity and that of its opponents.

The author is a world affairs commentator.

This article was translated by Chen Boyuan. Its original unabridged versionwas published in Chinese.

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