context: Before the pandemic, experts commented on China’s strategic opportunity for development facing an increasingly hostile US. COVID-19 has accelerated splits between China and the US/EU. Domestically, success in containing COVID-19 has led to increased confidence on the international stage.
He Yiting 何毅亭 former Central Party School executive vice president commented on the goal of national rejuvenation led by the party and the strategic period during what he calls 'the power shift from west to east'
- as a great power, China needs to be influential on the ideological front and in international discourse and to assume a great power’s responsibilities, in addition to socio-economic development
- tech revolution is the fundamental driving force of major change
- as international power shifts, the restructuring of the global governance system and the world order follow
- COVID-19 has only accelerated the process
- the overall trend of prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region will not change, but uncertainty is rising due to changes amidst great powers
- strategic competition and the reorganisation of relations between the major powers are intense and complex
- the US suffers from the ‘Trump shock’, the pandemic, intensifying racial conflicts and the widening gap between rich and poor
- the EU has been hit by the debt crisis, the large-scale refugee influx, terrorism and the pandemic
- these great changes are opportunities for China
- China should accelerate catching up with the world's scientific and technological frontiers and high-end countries in the industrial chain
- strive to achieve the ambitious goal of being at the forefront of innovative countries by 2035 and becoming a world power in science and technology by 2050
- the US–China relationship is the most important factor affecting the development and security of China
- the focus should be on cooperation, managing differences and maintaining stability