This dissertation investigates the origins of China’s global influence. When China wishes to shape international order, when does it achieve these goals, and when does China fall short? To understand the type of impact that China will have on world politics, most research focuses on whether China will be motivated to influence the rules of the game. I flip the analytical lens to examine the efficacy of China’s strategies when it is motivated to build and shape international rules. To impact the development and reform of international order, China developed a strategy called discourse power that uses language and communication to gain global influence. Drawing on a review of key policy documents from the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese academics, I show that China is actively investing in the development of narratives to gain power. I explain how China’s discourse power strategy is distinct from existing concepts, such as soft power and persuasion. This strategy underscores China’s idea that shaping international order is not only a result of hard power but also relies on the way it frames and sets the agenda. To explain the conditions under which China gains global influence, I theorize a rising power’s ability to shape international order. A rising power needs the support of officials within international bodies who possess the power to institutionalize its vision of order. However, one of the central problems a rising power faces is that the hard power strategies that helped it rise to a position of importance as the second most powerful country also present challenges when seeking to build allies within institutions. A rising power is naturally perceived as a threat by other states, which induces problems in attracting followers for its leadership. This dissertation argues framing is fundamental to a rising power’s ability to attract support. Framing is a strategy that influences decision-making by shifting the focus of collaboration. In the case of a rising power in the liberal order, shifting the focus away from the rights of individuals to the rights of governments— particularly the right to sovereignty — raises support for collaboration. This focus on the rights of governments resonates more than the status quo focus on human rights. By focusing on the shared interest of strengthening sovereignty, a rising power creates a rallying point for building new forms of international order. The theory of framing and global influence is tested on China’s ability to influence the development of international order in cyberspace, an inchoate issue area under formation, which China is highly motivated to shape. Newly assembled quantitative data of international cyber negotiations from the United Nations (UN), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and World Internet Conference; interviews with Chinese foreign policy experts in Beijing and Shanghai; elite experiments with cyber diplomats in the UN; and extensive field research of negotiations to build international rules to govern the internet demonstrate that discourse is a form of power on the world stage. The focus on sovereignty allows China to do what it otherwise wouldn’t have been able to achieve on the basis of its image alone: mobilize support for new visions of international order. These results develop a new understanding of power. Using discourse as a source of power has long been analyzed as a "weapon of the weak" for those who lack the material capabilities to influence behavior through coercion. In contrast to traditional expectations, this dissertation shows that rhetoric matters even for those with a preponderance of material resources. It is a fundamental force driving China’s ability to achieve global influence.