A different world arises

XT}As the US president{BLACK TEXT} labors to weaken his country and undermine the hegemony that it achieved after World War II, Chinese President Xi Jinping will be using Wednesday’s 80th anniversary of the end of that same war to show in the most emphatic way that his country is the new great power and that it has strong allies. The presence of the leaders of Russia, North Korea and Iran at Wednesday’s military parade will be a declaration that China has been rid of its fear of direct involvement in major geopolitical tensions, that it is ready to undertake the leadership of the anti-Western front, but also that it is most cynical when it declares itself the pillar of international stability. The showing off of new missiles and other “superweapons” on Wednesday will underline how China has changed its strategy and is prepared to project military, political and economic power as it sees fit. This dynamic had begun even before Donald Trump’s first presidential term, but it is growing exponentially during his second, as the American president both forces China to resist US pressure at every level (from trade tariffs to threatening rhetoric) and damages his country’s relationship with others, pushing them into Beijing’s embrace.  China’s awakening is due not only to US policies (both under Trump and Joe Biden), nor just to the international situation. A most significant factor has been the dominance of Xi, who has imposed his will on party and nation, who eliminated domestic rivals and developed the vision of global projection of power through the Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing’s greater self-confidence and its projection of power in the broader region, highly publicized US support for Taiwan and other countries that have differences with China, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, America’s aggressive protectionism in trade, and the undermining of the global system of governance, all provided China with an opportunity to promote its own interests and to present itself as a reliable partner in an unstable world. This image was reinforced by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Chinese port of Tianjin over the weekend, which brought together the leaders of some 25 countries, including India. Wednesday’s parade in Beijing will be the proof – and symbol – of the world’s irreversible change. It will trigger excited discussions on the end of Western domination, on liberal democracy’s inability to deal with the time’s challenges. China’s rise does appear unstoppable. But, just as one man is playing an inordinately large role in this development, so is another leading the West to a rapid and premature decline. The global balance will depend on how much more damage the latter will cause.