Chinese President Xi Jingping’s fiery speech on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) signifies Beijing’s stern warning to the West of any attempts to push it against the wallshall receive a strong blowback. Xi’s specific focus on ‘attempts to bully’ and ‘sanctimonious preaching’ by the West, especially the United States, is nothing unusual given how the two countries have remained at loggerheads over their respective strategic and economic interests across Eurasia. China’s armed forces are now at near-parity with their Western counterparts which wasn’t the case several decades ago. This itself leads us to a question whether it would expand its control over the South China Sea and eventually takeover Taiwan which enjoys the West’s absolute backing? Something that would closely be watched by global movers and shakers in the near future. While Beijing’s influence in Hong Kong has remained a controversial subject in Western think tanks and media, the fact remains that it was long time coming and nothing much could’ve been done to counter the new national security laws. Whereas, its expansive strategic influence in South/Central Asia has surely rattled New Delhi and Washington DC by extension whose over-reliance on the BJP regime is proving quite costly. This is owing to New Delhi’s follies in light of its futile military escalation with Beijing, the ongoing crisis in Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IoJ&K) and domestic laws akin to fascism thanks to Nazi-inspired Hindutva cadres. Then we have the Quad which is Washington’s main alliance to battle Beijing. While its formation may include the likes of New Delhi, Canberra and Tokyo; their foreign policy on China doesn’t align collectively regardless of all the hype. Notably, 57% Australians are against involvement in any kind of Sino-American conflict while Japan has refused to involve itself militarily in any future escalation on Taiwan despite its own historical tensions with China. A smart move, if fairly assessed. New Delhi may think it could act as a counterweight but it’s too late given the strategic imbalance and high dependence on trade with Beijing. Whereas, Islamabad’s decision to decline US military presence in its territory and favourable remarks for Beijing’s governance model subtly implies that it does not wish to get embroiled in further regional or global hostilities owing to historical blunders that caused nothing but death and destruction. Has the world entered a new Cold War? It’s debatable but all signs are there that the Chinese dragon is being poked unnecessarily which won’t end well for the global order. *