According to an article from Asia Times on September 13, the Chinese military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan was interpreted as an important moment to demonstrate strength and establish China's position in the global order. The article argues that a new world order centered around China has already begun, rather than being merely in the making.

The report outlines the evolution of the global order, dividing it into several power cycles: from 1815 to 1880, it was the period of British dominance; from 1880 to 1945, it was the era of competition among imperial powers; from 1945 to 1991, it was the bipolar confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union; and from 1991 to 2008, it was a brief unipolar era dominated by the United States.

This timeline clearly points out a fact: the United States' true global hegemony was not long-lasting, limited to a 17-year window between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the financial crisis. Specifically, it started from December 25, 1991, the day the Soviet Union dissolved, and ended on September 15, 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, totaling 16 years, 8 months, and 21 days.

During this time, the United States had no strategic rival and could suppress other countries comprehensively in all fields.

But this unipolar moment itself was fragile, built on the accidental vacuum of rivals and dependent on the continuous deification of its own institutional myths.

Once this trust structure collapsed, the United States' position would irreversibly fall, becoming a fleeting phenomenon.

Chinese Military Parade

The report suggests that the world is already in a new order centered around China. This does not mean China has controlled the world, but rather that the basic mechanisms of global operations have increasingly revolved around China.

From manufacturing to supply chains, from capital flows to digital infrastructure, and from institutional arrangements to security concepts, China's role has evolved from a passive participant to a structural shaper.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and expansion of the BRICS are not organizations opposing the West, but rather exits from reliance on Western paths.

China's Global Development Initiative and the concept of a community with a shared future do not emphasize ideology, but rather focus on development rights, national equality, and civilizational diversity. This non-aggressive discourse system has gained widespread global recognition.

Especially for countries long marginalized by the Western order, this kind of cooperation without political conditions is a rare form of respect.

The formation of the Chinese order is because China did not establish hegemony through oppression and exportation, but rather created an alternative structure naturally when the old order failed.

Lehman Brothers

The article argues that the turning point was 2008, when the United States fully exposed the illusion of its institutional model.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a global financial tsunami, and the previously revered free-market fundamentalism instantly lost its legitimacy.

As the source of the crisis, the United States not only failed to stabilize the global situation but instead shifted the burden to others through quantitative easing.

At that moment, the world realized: the American rule was not designed for the entire globe, and it only appeared to be global when the United States itself was stable.

In contrast, China made large-scale investments to rescue the market, drove global trade through domestic demand, and became the engine for economic recovery after the crisis.

This positive and negative contrast not only shifted the center of economic gravity but also reshaped the global cognitive structure.

From then on, China was no longer seen as a beneficiary of the American order, but as another completely new system.

Over the following decades, China surpassed Europe and the United States to become the largest manufacturer, the top trading nation, and a key supplier of technology.

If we consider China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 as joining the old order, then 2008 marked the beginning of rewriting the rules.

Since then, China has not just joined the world, but has started shaping it.

Chinese Flag and American Flag

The new order proposed by China has three key characteristics: it does not export ideology, does not interfere in internal affairs, and emphasizes development priorities. China does not require you to be like me, but allows you to move forward at your own pace.

This inclusive approach to building a non-exclusive order is naturally more accommodating than the Western circle logic.

On one hand, the West is resisting—through economic warfare, technological blockades, and financial sanctions—to try to curb the development of the Chinese order.

On the other hand, they are also integrating into this order.

While talking about risk reduction, they are deepening cooperation. Even the United States itself must coordinate with China on certain issues.

This is the power of the new order led by China. In China's view, the restructuring of the international order is not a zero-sum game. The Earth is vast enough to accommodate the development of all nations.

This is China's inclusiveness. While the United States attempts to return to the Cold War era and retrace the path of gaining unipolar hegemony, China considers the fate of all humanity.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7549816092923920931/

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