When Trump was told in Beijing - You are the creator of China!

"Hide your capabilities and wait for the right time. China should not claim leadership, walk around waving flags, and seek dominance."

Four decades ago, while leading an economically weak China, home to 700 million poor people, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping gave his successors this advice.

 Times have changed, and China has reached a point where it demands recognition of its power, civilization, and ideological superiority on the world stage. At least, this time, the Chinese stance expressed at the summit between the top leaders of the United States and China confirms this.

Shortly after being elected party general secretary in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping uttered a key phrase that sent a message about where the Communist Party would take China in the future: "Achieving great rejuvenation is the great dream of modern China."

This discourse, which began with the description of the revival of an ancient civilization, economy, and glory that had been weakened by colonialism, was advanced by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in the first decade of the twentieth century. Nearly 100 years later, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek attempted to establish it as a goal of modern China. Current leader Xi Jinping added the term 'Chinese Dream' to this and tried to instill a sense of self-esteem in the Chinese people.

There is another aspect inherent in this slogan: China, which was attacked and exploited by Britain and later by all imperialist powers since the Opium War, has changed its situation and is now claiming world leadership.

In fact, the term 'Chinese Dream' was first used by Liu Mingfu, a former colonel in the People's Army, in his book 'China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-American Era', published in 2010.

The gist of his opinion was that 'China has had a century-long dream of becoming a world leader': China must become the world's number one power. Not just by increasing its economic power, it must also become number one in strategic power and, when it comes, it must defeat the United States.

The Iran war had tested America's power. On the one hand, the balance of power was shifting in China's favor as it shifted its weapons and power from the Indo-Pacific region to the Gulf; on the other hand, NATO countries had shied away from providing Trump's requested support for the Iran war, especially in opening the Strait of Hormuz. The limits of America's power were beginning to be seen as it failed to address a relatively small and weak Iran.

Meanwhile, the Indo-Pacific strategy developed since Obama's time, focusing on China, and the trade and technological sanctions imposed to surround China, have helped to strengthen China rather than weaken it. In the face of technological restrictions, China is moving forward to parallel the US in technology. It has developed unprecedented economic and strategic power.

Chinese social media users have been making fun of Trump by giving him various nicknames. One such sarcastic phrase was: Quan Yanguo, meaning 'the creator of China'. It seems that the Chinese understand that calling Trump the 'creator of China' means that 'it was because of his policies that China was able to develop itself and the balance of power in the world shifted in China's favor.' There have been attempts to denigrate him by using epithets such as 'Comrade Trump' and 'the patriotic son of China'.

This represents the common belief among the Chinese that 'China, not America, is now the world's leading power.' Putin's visit, which will follow Trump's visit, will further reinforce this. It seems that the current goal of China as a whole (of course, not everyone in China thinks the same way, there are different opinions and ideas, opposition and support) is to become the most powerful country in the world and to prove the traditional belief that China is the 'center of the world'.

Xi's open challenge

"It is more appropriate to call the China-US relationship co-evolution rather than partnership. Both countries pursue their internal needs and priorities, cooperate as much as possible, and adjust their relationship over time to minimize conflict."

Henry Kissinger, the world's most cunning and cunning diplomat and former US Secretary of State who shaped China-US relations in the 1960s, wrote in his conclusion on his views on China and Sino-US relations: 'It would be in their interest for China and the US to take a path that would at least manage their internal pressures and minimize potential conflict between them.'

We may have to wait a few more decades to see whether his vision of the future relationship between China and the United States will be just wishful thinking or reality.

It is still uncertain whether China will rise to the top of the world's power through peaceful development or whether confrontation with the United States will become inevitable. The words chosen by Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his welcoming remarks at his first formal talks with US President Donald Trump last week carry profound meaning. And they point to the inevitable destiny of these two powerful countries.

In recent years, China-US relations have been on a path of tension. Interdependence is at an inescapable level, and so are tensions. Bans on high-tech exports, transfer of ownership of TikTok, arrests and surveillance of Chinese researchers and academics, restrictions on Chinese company Huawei, etc. - there are so many questions.

This week's visit to China by US President Donald Trump has become a watershed in history, heralding the decline of the US empire as a power and China's rise to the top of the world's power rankings.

The tension has reached such a point that the US is even pressuring China to remove the space research center it established with Argentina. Tensions in the South China and Indo-Pacific regions remain. China is also accused of providing weapons to Iran, buying Iranian oil, and supporting Venezuela. China has also accused the US of providing weapons to Taiwan and inciting it against China. The Taiwan Act and the Tibet Act, which are embarrassing China, are also ongoing.

If such tensions continue to escalate and the US does not address China's concerns, "We are ready to fight you. Whether you join us or fight, you decide." Xi issued a challenge to Trump, that too in a formal meeting, witnessed by high-ranking officials from both countries.

His words were: 'Can China and the United States escape the 'Thucydides Trap' and set a new standard for great power relations? The Taiwan question is a crucial issue in China-US relations. If it is not handled properly, it may lead the entire China-US relationship to a dangerous turn or even a state of conflict... We believe that your desire to make America great again and our desire for China's great rejuvenation can go hand in hand.'

Other things are normal, but the use of the term Thucydides trap is meaningful. Through this, Xi wants to send a message - we are a rising superpower, you are a declining power. In the world, only a war between such two powers determines the victory of the new power and the demise of the old. Whether you want to fight with us or go along with us, is a matter of your will.

This does not require further analysis. This was the Chinese declaration of China's victory and America's defeat. It will take America and the world a few more years to accept this. Who knows, how many proxy wars will occur in the world in the process, how many regional wars will occur, and even large-scale wars that will attract the world! For now, we can only hope that both of us will peacefully practice parallel power expansion.

Finally, history sometimes seems like a regular contingency. Regular in the sense that events are causally connected, not accidental. And accidental in the sense that such events sometimes take shape unexpectedly, at unexpected times.

US President Donald Trump's visit to China this week has become a watershed in history, marking the decline of the US empire as a power and China's rise to the top of the world's power rankings.

The meticulously engineered management of his visit and the proclamation by Chinese President Xi have turned this century-changing event into a celebration. Some conservative forces and individuals have found it difficult to digest, but not only the people of both China and the United States, but the world has eagerly welcomed it. This has been accomplished with a bang, shattering our belief that ‘such events do not come with a bang’.