MARTIN Jacques, the world renowned geopolitical and China expert who in 2009 published the book, “When China Rules the World,” published a new essay in the February 8, 2022 Global Times entitled, “All eyes on the Beijing Winter Olympics witness a weakened US.”
He noted further that only four members of the EU backed the US’ “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Winter Olympics and only 14 countries backed the call with some of them giving ambiguous reasons.
I would add that this collapse of Biden’s boycott comes after the equally disastrous US-led “Summit for Democracy” in December 2021 which hardly left any impression after the two-day virtual event.
The summit spearheaded by Biden was so muddled in its purposes and political philosophy that even the US press criticized it heavily with a Time magazine-opinion piece bashing it as “Joe Biden’s Democracy Summit Is the Height of Hypocrisy.”
Furthermore, an outstanding young American of Chinese descent and top bet for a Winter Olympics gold, Eileen Gu, chose to represent China in the games and won gold for China with her amazing skiing skills.
Contrary to Biden’s boycott policy, Eileen Gu said, “My mission is to use sport as a force for unity, to use it as a form to foster interconnection between countries, and not use it as a divisive force…” putting to shame Biden’s divisive policy.
In his essay, Martin Jacques projected these developments into the future:
“All of this is telling us something of much broader significance… First, the estrangement of the US and China will be long-lasting. Five years and still very much counting; not less than 10…… Second, the US decline is continuing and will probably accelerate…
Third, when this era comes to an end, as it eventually will … It will still be one world … dominated by two spheres, a Chinese one and an American one, with the former increasingly dominant.”
More signs of US decline in power and influence is popping up around the world. On the European continent, US warmongering in Ukraine has been met with pushback from Ukraine’s president, Pres. Zelensky, who blamed the West for “stirring panic” instead of seconding US prediction of the “imminent Russian invasion;” Germany refuses to commit to ending Nord Stream 2 even if Russia attacks and France’s President Macron seeks a separate solution without a US role.
Latin America’s second largest country, Argentina joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and plans $ 23.7-billion projects and gets China’s recognition for its Falklands claim challenging its British occupation.
In Africa, China helped tip the balance for President Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia in defeating US-backed Tigray rebels, and in Oceania, President Manasseh Sogavare sought China aid for police training and equipment to restore order after pro-Taiwan politicians launch mob riots.
The US decline and China’s rise is not purely a money-matter as some anti-China elements would think it to be.
China may indeed be economically more powerful now but China’s rise is also due to its political and economic philosophy pushing prosperity and peace for all, while the U.S. seeks to dominate and exploit every nation and even its allies. The Winter Olympics massively pushed China’s “Community of Shared Future for Mankind” into everyone’s consciousness.
Countries around the world, long used to US meddling and domination, find the new and fresh wind blowing from the East as liberating, invigorating the prospects for a future of durable peace, growing prosperity and an end to the centuries of Western imperialist wars and US hegemonistic unilateralism.
China pledges to shun hegemonism and demonstrably pushed authentic Multilaterism where all sit around the table and there’s no head-of-the-table.
Multilateralism got its boost when leaders of four major non-Western nations converged at the sidelines of the 2006 UNGA meet.
Russia, India, Brazil and China worked on the idea of aiding each other’s development, South Africa representing Africa later joined. In 2014 the New Development Bank or BRICS Bank was established for BRICS development activities, mainly funded by China. In this way all the major regions of the world would be independent of the traditional powers.
In July 2021 amidst the traditional powers’ G7 meeting, China reminded the group that “The days when global decisions were dictated by a small group of countries are long gone…
“We always believe that countries, big or small, strong or weak, poor or rich, are equals, and that world affairs should be handled through consultation by all countries.”
Martin Jacques predicts the sunset for US hegemony but the sunrise is not for China alone, it is for Mankind.
(Samahan si Ka Mentong Laurel atbp. sa “Power Thinks” Miyerkules @6pm Live Global Talk News Radio (GTNR) sa Facebook at Talk News TV, You Tube; at tuwing Linggo 8 to 10am sa RP1 738khz AM radio.)