Rising powers have a nuanced relationship with the extant global governance (GG) system. This study draws upon China and Brazil as examples, and seeks to explain their different stances towards the GG, by contemplating the cases of BRICS, Responsibility to Protect (R2P) regime, Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), and the United Nations Security Council reform. Therefore, this study serves as an attempt to dissect the dynamics whereby rising powers engage with each other vis-à-vis global governance.