this is a call to greater international policy activism, rather than retrenchment in response to the rise of Trump. In other words, the conclusion is that the great trends of history, or to use an old Soviet term, the ‘correlation of forces’, are moving China’s way. TOWARDS A SHARPER CHINESE DIPLOMACY A third element of the 2018 Work Conference is its injunction to the country’s international policy institutions and personnel to get with the Xi Jinping project. Xi seems to have the Foreign Ministry in his sights when he says that “the reform of the institutions and mechanisms concerning foreign affairs is the internal demand of advancing modernisation in the state governance system and governance capabilities.” It will be recalled from above that “party- building” within the country’s foreign policy institutions will be a core part of that. On personnel, Xi Jinping reminds the nation’s diplomats that they are first and foremost “party cadres.” This has a certain ideological retro to it all. Indeed it’s been a long time since I've heard Chinese diplomats refer to their seniors as cadres. In fact I’m not sure that over the last 35 years that I can. To quote the Xinhua report: “Stressing that cadres are the decisive factor after setting the political course, Xi called for a strong contingent of foreign affairs personnel that are loyal to the CPC, the country and the people and are politically solid, professionally competent and strongly disciplined in their conduct. He called on foreign affairs cadres to enhance their ideals and their training so as to upgrade their competency and overall quality...” Does this presage a new type of Chinese foreign ministry diplomat abroad? Perhaps. It’s long been reported that Xi has been frustrated by the performance of parts of his foreign policy establishment. He sees them proceeding at a glacial pace. Whereas China’s strategic challenges and opportunities are urgent. Once again, this tends to point in the direction of greater forei