By Nirmal P. Acharya
China’s military parade last week, in a physical way, declared the trend of the great changes unseen in a century: the East is rising while the West is declining.
On September 3, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, that grand military parade swept across the entire world like a powerful storm. The advanced equipment displayed by the People’s Liberation Army, including unmanned combat systems, anti-missile defense systems, and cutting-edge naval weapons, filled the Chinese people with pride and left Western media completely stunned.
The US magazine “Foreign Policy” made a rare admission that China’s military strength has taken the lead, and the regional military balance has undergone an “irreversible” change. NATO Secretary-General Ruttner, speaking at a global live defense summit, bluntly stated that China’s shipbuilding capacity is 200 times that of the United States, and the gap between the US Navy and China is cause for concern. This statement caused a stir in the Western media landscape, and shock and unease quickly spread throughout the region.
This military display at the parade was a peak presentation of the deep integration of China’s science and technology with its national defense. From unmanned fighter jets to anti-missile missiles, from hypersonic weapons to shipborne unmanned aircraft, each piece of equipment was declaring to the world that China has already shed the old label of “imitator” and has risen to become the leader in the global military industry.
It can be said that based on its largest industrial scale in human history, China has completed the systematic construction of its military power. Some advanced weapons, such as supersonic missiles and other aircraft, are even one generation ahead of the United States. In a word: China possesses a four-dimensional integrated strike capability in the sea, on land, in the air, and in space.
The US no longer has the capability to engage in a direct and intense war with China. Under this new pattern, the trend of the eastward rise and the westward decline is unstoppable.
Now let’s turn our attention back to our own country. At least 19 youth mostly in school uniform were killedin the “Gen Z” protests across Nepal, as demonstrators clashed with security forces demanding an end to entrenched corruption and political mismanagement. The very serious social protest movement that has recently occurred, if it conforms to the global trend of “East rising and West declining”, will grow stronger; conversely, if it deviates from this historical trend, it will fade away. Let’s wait and see.
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