From the early 1990s, China embarked on the path to political, economic and strategic ascendancy and regional hegemony, though its doctrine remained embedded in peace and good neighborliness. During the past two decades, China has acquired enough economic power and military muscle to stand out as an emerging superpower to the awe and fear of its neighbors in East Asia and the surrounding regions of the Pacific and South Asia bringing into play the Thucydidean theory of an inevitable clash between a rising regional state and the dominant power. The Chinese rise on the global scene as an economic and military power is perceived as a direct threat to the US domination. Viewed in the historic perspective, China concentrated on becoming an economic power to reckon with putting its political, ideological and territorial disputes with other countries on backburner and displaying restraint in international affairs with the introduction of Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms of 1979. It continued with more liberal economic policies under the successive leaders to realize the economic potential of the country. Within a short span of time, the world was amazed to witness the dividends of this focused economic development. By 2018, China had the second highest GDP of over $11.9 trillion. It was estimated the Chinese economy would take over that of the USA within two decades. Over the past two decades, China unobtrusively achieved the enviable position of becoming top trading partner of the East Asian and pacific countries signing regional economic deals that included free trade agreements with Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) and others. We also witnessed China building financial institutional infrastructures at the expense of the US dominated International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the Japanese-led Asian Development Bank. In 2014, China, in collaboration with the BRICS countries created the $100 billion New Development Bank, and the following year, set up the $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank which has been joined by some 80 countries. The US tried in vain to prevent its allies in the East Asia and Pacific from joining the Bank. However, 8 countries of the East Asia and Pacific joined it within the first two years defying the US diktat. Unfurled then was the One Belt and One Road Initiative which seeks to interconnect over 60 countries from East Asia and Pacific to South Asia, Central and Caucasian regions to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The Initiative envisages interconnecting roads and railways and a string of Seaports to facilitate shipment of commercial goods. BRI promises financial assistance and investment in regional communication and agricultural infrastructure and natural resources. The devastation wreaked by the Chovid-19 and the riots sparked by George Floyd’s murder has inflicted a heavy blow to the US power and prestige internationally The military doctrine of the China has aggravated the concerns of the regional countries. The People’s Liberation Army focuses on keeping the country’s shores and airspace clear of the US military intrusion. It has built the region’s largest coast guard and controls a vast militia of civilian fishing vessels. China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017 and is likely to build more bases along the African East Coast and the Indian Ocean in the coming years, asserted by the then US National Security Advisor John Bolton claiming that in the South China Sea, China has developed over half a dozen Islands that house air force bases, missile shelters, and radar and communication facilities. The Americans apprehend China has the ability of striking their naval vessels, and posing missile threat to their air bases. China has also entrenched itself in Africa and Latin America. The Chinese trade with the African continent and Latin America is estimated in each region at over $300 billion annually. The flow of finances from China to Africa has been just fabulous, and, according to New York Times, much of it has not been aid. From 2000 to 2014, Chinese financing to Africa peaked at $122billion dwarfing the US finances of $106.7billion. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development has termed about 40% of this huge amount as financial aid. ‘Most of Chinese money comes in the form of loans, many of which are for projects being built by Chinese state-owned companies. The borrowers have to start repaying the loans within a few years unlike the World Bank loans which have a grace period of a decade’, says Aiddata, a research centre in Virginia. China like any powerful country has been employing its soft and hard power to protect its interests in this Hobbesian world. It is not apologetic about it as the US and Soviets had also followed the same playbook. Under the Monroe Doctrine, the USA formed the Organization of American States in 1948 to establish its full control over the Latin American states in the name of security and cooperation. The USA also created a string of development institutions which included the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the US Agency for International Development which advanced its political and economic interests. We vividly recall the USA military interventions in the Latin American countries. Likewise, The Soviet Union subdued the East European and Baltic states employing both soft and hard power. The imperial Japan humbled China taking chunks of its territory. The US global leadership received a number of setbacks during incumbency of President Donald Trump. The devastation wreaked by the Chovid-19 and the riots sparked by George Floyd’s murder has inflicted a heavy blow to the US power and prestige internationally. What analysts feel strongly is that history has taken a new cyclical turn for international political and strategic change, and China is proving the flag bearer of it. This may look farfetched at this stage. However, the strong indications about the decline of the US power cannot be brushed aside. We all know the cycle of natural fatigue and complacency, as elaborated by Ibn-e-Khuldun in case of dominant powers, had set in the US since past two decades. (Excerpted from my essay on the subject published by the ‘Weekender’ Karachi last year). The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books