Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the war in Ukraine showed that Western hegemony was “seeing its end” in light of China’s rise as a superpower in partnership with Russia, calling it the clearest point of change in He knows war. World scene in centuries
Blair’s comments came in a speech titled “After Ukraine, what lessons for the West. Leadership?”
Blair said the world was going through a transformational phase in history that could be compared to the end of World War II or the collapse of the Soviet Union, “but this time, clearly, the West is not on the winning side.” He put it.
He added: “We are witnessing the end of the political and economic hegemony of the West” and believes that the world “will at least become bipolar or multipolar and the biggest geopolitical change in this century will come from China and not from Russia.”
Blair also noted that the Ukraine war had made it clear that “the West cannot rely on China to act in a way that we consider reasonable.”
In this context, Blair said: “China’s position as a great power is natural and justified, not the Soviet Union”, but said the West should not allow China to gain military superiority.
“We must increase defense spending and maintain our military superiority,” Blair added.
Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.
China has chosen neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, although it strategically stands in a trench with Moscow against the Western camp led by the United States of America.
Beijing did not join the long list of countries condemning Russia’s military attack on Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against Moscow, but blamed the United States for the beginning and escalation of the crisis.
While NATO is looking to expand and bring in new members, Russia and China are trying to expand participation and bring in new members to major rival Asian organizations in the West, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), to create greater political and economic understanding. Interdependence between these distant countries in the case of the West.
China is Russia’s largest economic partner. Trade between the two countries reached about $140 billion in 2021, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on February 4 in Beijing saw the signing of contracts worth $117 billion for purchases. Oil and Gas.
Also, China’s huge economy represents the savior of Russia’s economy after the tightening of Western sanctions, especially considering the continued export of oil and gas to the Chinese market if the European and Western markets close their doors to Russian energy exports. completely.
Source: Lebanon Debate
