Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the roof of Beijing’s warnings at the CPC centennial, saying that “the time of oppression is over, and no power can defeat the pillars of the Chinese nation.” With these words, the Chinese president delivered a clear message to Washington and the world, signaling that there is no going back from China’s military and economic renaissance and threatening to “squash any foreign power that attempts to oppress China.”

Through this direct speech, Jinping attempted to affirm that the Chinese giant is no longer a mere economic competitor for the United States, but a military one at that as well, hinting that China will work on bolstering its army to protect its security and sovereignty, and its journey to compete against international standards.

This new scene that the Chinese president has drawn cannot be separated from the hostility towards China, seen in most of American President Joe Biden’s speeches since he became president. His first speech in Congress saw him outlining his priorities as combating Chinese superiority. However, with this novel and firm Chinese position, a number of hypotheses might be posed as to whether Biden will continue his predecessor’s hostile policy towards China or tone it down in an effort to repair the damaged relations between the two countries.

President of the Global Policy Institute, Paolo von Schirach, stressed that “the Chinese president’s statements hold no surprises in terms of his concentration on his country’s achievements,” adding that “China no longer plays by international rules, and Biden’s administration does not want to disregard this disruption anymore,” pointing out that “the claim that America is out to dominate the world is fictional, it believes in friendship and the importance of alliances.”

Schirach then asked, “what would we say about Biden’s decisions to lower the defense budget and his focus on internal American issues?” clarifying that “the United States is interested in preserving the post-World War II international order.” 

#بوتين يلاقي الرئيس الصيني في منتصفِ الطريق: عصر القطب الواحدِ انتهى.. هل ترضخ #واشنطن لواقعِ تزايد التكتلات الرافضة لهيمنتها؟

التفاصيل في #المسائية.. تابعونا! pic.twitter.com/SNLjUVQY4I

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) July 1, 2021

International relations expert, Ayman Samir, saw that “Washington is directly targeting China, which in turn pushed the Chinese president to deliver this message.”

Speaking to Al-Mayadeen, he added that “Washington wants to preserve the unipolar world order, with it holding the reins, but the reality now says otherwise,” saying that “the US is militarizing the South and Eastern China seas, and creating hostility in the region.”

Samir noted that “Washington’s attempts to militarize the regions around China are clear as day, not to mention its maneuvers in the Black Sea,” and saw that “America is out to stifle Russia without going into a war with it, through the colored revolutions and the mobilization occurring at its borders.”

أيمن سمير: #واشنطن تستهدف #الصين بشكل مباشر.

لمشاهدة #المسائية كاملةً👇https://t.co/GGij1o8VhT pic.twitter.com/OgiQhzGx10

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) July 1, 2021

China’s rivalry and its boldness intersect with Moscow’s behavior in terms of their challenge to the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared during the 18th annual “Direct Line” program, that “the time of unipolarity is over,” assuring the defeat of “those who travel thousands of miles to the Russian border, in any conflict that might erupt,” in a direct hint at the United States and its Atlantic allies who are still mobilizing and provoking Russia at its border.

As for the HMS Defender incident across from Crimea, Putin called it “an American-British provocation,” revealing that an American strategic UAV was involved in the incident.

Putin also said it was improbable that a third World War would have broken out if Russia had sunk the British destroyer. Despite his saying that his country does not want such a development, he stressed that the Russians, in such a situation, would fight on their land in defense of themselves and their future.

He added that the key element, in this case, is that both Washington and London are the ones that approached Moscow’s borders and violated its regional sea.

In this regard, Russian writer and reporter Andrey Ontikov said that “Washington is worried it is losing grasp of the unipolar world order with the rise of countries like Russia and China.”

Ontikov told Al-Mayadeen that “a number of countries are on the United States’ list of targets, including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea,” stressing that “rapprochement between an economic power like China, and a military power like Russia, worries the US.”

#المسائية | أندريه أونتيكوف: #واشنطن تشعر بالقلق لفقدان السيطرة على نظام القطب الواحد مع صعود دول كـ #روسيا و #الصين. pic.twitter.com/YaRTW6Tf9s

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) July 1, 2021