Beijing is bolstering its soft power and taking the lead in a global response to the coronavirus public health crisis. The moves come as China's daily number of new infections decline while those in the U.S. rise.

In the last few weeks, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been busy calling leaders across the world and rallying for global coordination in managing the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese health experts have hosted video conferences with those from other countries to share experiences. "This is the first international crisis where China is actively taking a global leadership role and it stands in particular contrast to the US, which has disdained international cooperation and invested more political capital in criticizing China for its role in allowing the outbreak to spread," said analysts from the Eurasia Group in a report this week. On social and state media, China continues to promote its shipments of medical supplies to hard hit countries in Europe and Africa. China's officials have also used Twitter — blocked in the country — to trumpet Beijing's efforts. They laud China's success in containing the outbreak domestically, even though the virus was first reported there and was met with missteps initially. "I think this is the opportunity of the century for China to build trust in the world, which it has found so difficult to come by as a rising nation, and to rebuild its international image — China doesn't (want to) waste an opportunity like this," Keyu Jin, associate professor of economics at LSE. She also told CNBC on Tuesday that the public health crisis could be the "opportunity of the century" for China to cement its place as a global power.

But the world's second largest economy will not be able to fulfill its ambitions easily, according to risk consultancy Eurasia Group. "Countries like the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey have found defects with masks and tests from China and this setback won't be the last," Eurasia analysts wrote.

'International diplomacy for a domestic audience'

China's diplomacy, even on Twitter, is one that is not just meant for the global audience, it is also for a domestic one. Eurasia analysts said highlighting China's leadership accomplishes two important political goals for Xi. "First, it buttresses his claim in the superiority of China's governance model, an implicit pushback against some of the criticism that has come from within China about aggressive containment measures and silencing of early warnings about the outbreak," they said. "Second, it taps into patriotic sentiment at home, rallying support for Beijing as Xi guides the economy through a painful year. Many of Xi's conversations with foreign leaders have focused on keeping supply chains open and trade running as well as the delivery of aid," they added. But, such efforts also reveal China's insecurities and weaknesses, said Ryan Hass and Kevin Dong at the Brookings Institution. "They serve as reminders of China's lethally botched initial response to the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan," they wrote in a recent web post. "Recognising this reputational risk, Chinese propagandists are feverishly attempting to rewrite the COVID-19 narrative to place their leaders in a favourable light." This throws the world's two most powerful countries in a narrative war, underscoring geopolitical rivalry and further tensions in the future.

Domestic stumbles