Let the West flounder in its delusion. They have no idea what the new China represents. Not a clue. They still believe their puny encirclement and containment strategies, which have served them in the past on the nefarious adventures in which they have engaged, can still provide the same results as they usually did in times gone by. But they fail to recognise those times have now evaporated as mist in the dawn of a new age from the East. The new day of Chinese supremacy. In which the nightmare of Western oppression will fade into forgotten memory from the global mind.
The size of China’s displacement of the world balance is such that the World must find a new balance. It is not possible to pretend that this is just another big player. This is the biggest player in the history of the World.
Lee Kwan Yew, Father of Singapore.
Forget America. Forget Britain. Forget Australia. Forget the EU. Forget NATO. Forget ‘Quads’ and ‘AUKUS’s. If they think that they can, even together, prevent the rise of China, which even now carries the friendship and partnership of most nations of the Eurasian supercontinent, and the world, including the most powerful nuclear and conventionally armed nation on the planet – Russia – then their delusion exceeds that which even the most imaginative minds would project. And they will be grossly disappointed and dismayed if they should foolishly attempt to pre-empt or deter that rise.
They will be equally disappointed if they take any sort of stand on China not regaining full control of the Taiwan island in due course. On which issue China is in no hurry to bring on that reunion. Such a conclusion can wait for a peaceful transition opportunity. It all depends on what activity, if any, whether that may be just the usual threats and rude gestures or something more substantial, in which the Western heroes engage themselves to deter that inevitable happy event.
All of that was by way of introducing the main thrust of this essay, which is to state in no uncertain terms the importance of China in this 21st year of the 21st century (by reckoning of the Western calendar.)
The Lee Quan Yew quote represents the first words I read in a relatively new book. Here is another one at the head of Chapter 2 – which is the far point of my reading as I write this, and is another way of saying that I have not so far been unduly influenced by what is said there (and consequently cannot at this stage give a review of the book – which I may do later)…
If rulers’ own behavior is ethical, what difficulty will they have in governing? If their own conduct is improper, how can they demand lawfulness from their citizens?
Confucius, Analects.
That book, and the reference to the above quote incidentally, is: Roberts, Godfree. Why China Leads the World: Talent at the Top, Data in the Middle, Democracy at the Bottom (p. 12). Oriel Press. Kindle Edition.
So, what is it that prompted me, if not that book, to write this essay just now – aside from the obvious point of my chosen title for the piece?
It is the also recent articles written by Pepe Escobar, published by The Cradle and other worthy online news outlets no doubt: ‘The Iran-Azerbaijan standoff is a contest for the region’s transportation corridors’ on October 05, 2021, and also the fine article by Matthew Ehret – also published by The Cradle: ‘Turkey’s existential choice: BRI or bust’ on October 04, 2021.
I recommend the reading of both articles, perhaps in that order, for a good understanding of the current situation of current events in the region of which they speak and the importance of China to that situation. In reality, this is also an indication of how China stands in relation to the whole Eurasian land mass, linked as it is with the African continent, and indeed its equal importance to the whole world.
This is not simply prosaic blather. There is a great deal of factual information contained in those reports, all of which is essential to a complete and reasoned understanding of these matters. Matters which are at the heart of world affairs just now. Why do you think it is that the Americas and Europe have been relegated to the fringes of global intercourse? It is because those regions are no longer central to world affairs. The world has shifted. The point of balance is now in Eurasia. And how can we hope to make sense of this new balance in world affairs if we have no understanding of it or them?
Having said that, and I fully intended to say much more, but I have realised that having provided a point of focus and most excellent references to illustrate that point, anything I say now, drawn from the conclusions I have personally gained from those references, cannot possibly assist the reader any further than actually reading those references for themselves could do – as aids in the task of drawing their own conclusions. Which is essentially why I am doing this in the first place. My work here then is actually complete. Where you personally take it now is entirely up to you …and I can get on with reading my book.
Not Something Else 
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