Ex-British PM Blair: West's dominance coming to an end
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the West's dominance is coming to an end as China rises to superpower status in partnership with Russia.
Blair made his remarks in a lecture entitled "After Ukraine, What Lessons Now for Western Leadership?" at Ditchley Park west of London in which the former British leader, better known for his role in the US-led invasion of Iraq, called for alliance between the United States and Europe.
"The world is going to be at least bi-polar and possibly multi-polar," Blair said. "The biggest geo-political change of this century will come from China not Russia," he said.
The Ukraine war has exposed the emerging faultlines in the world, where the West is squaring up against China and Russia.
Throughout the conflict, China has steadily been supporting Russia and criticized the West's "abuse" of sanctions where the two countries have forged a "strategic partnership".
Blair said the Ukraine conflict has shown that the West could not rely on China "to behave in the way we would consider rational".
China, Blair said, is not the Soviet Union prone to collapse. "China’s place as a superpower is natural and justified."
Its rise has seriously worried the West. China's economy is forecast to overtake the United States within a decade. The country already leads in some 21st century technologies such as artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine and conductive polymers.
Blair called on the West to step up its military spending and not let China overtake it. "We should increase defense spending and maintain military superiority," Blair said. The United States and its allies "should be superior enough to cater for any eventuality or type of conflict and in all areas."
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the era of a unipolar world has ended. He said the so-called "golden billion" Western countries still pretend to be superior, looking at other countries as their colonies.
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