What has become clear in recent days is that the world is going through a period that is much more unpredictable and pregnant with major changes. The world politics, which became unipolar after the end of the Cold War, has led the United States of America, which became stagnant, barren and indebted internally, starting with the 9/11 scenario, to become aggressive externally and to embark on adventures in the quagmire of the Middle East. Thus, it was necessary to first destroy in order to build. While the U.S. struggled with the first and second Iraq operations and then Afghanistan, Russia moved closer to Europe and became Europe's largest supplier of resources, especially energy. Meanwhile, in East Asia, the People's Republic of China seized the opportunity to rise from the ashes and quickly became an alternative to the Western model with its infrastructure, economy, technology, and worldview.

The world is no longer unipolar, but it is not exactly multipolar either. The Greek and Roman model of world order, which has long been the dominant model in world history, or the rules-based world order, as the US calls it, is worn out, outdated, and out of step with the times. But what are these rules, and who makes them and how? No one knows. While the Western countries are trying to spread their new colonialist order, the People's Republic of China, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, has started to lead the developing countries and has started to share the great prosperity that China has achieved through production with the developing countries as investment. But just as a car cannot travel where there are no roads, infrastructure is needed to promote prosperity. The infrastructure needed to expand and spread prosperity is the Belt and Road Initiative.

Contrary to what many propagandistic critics claim, the Belt and Road Initiative is not a malicious plot or a project to impose China's geopolitical ambitions on countries by creating debt slavery. Today, the Panama Canal is occasionally unusable due to drought caused by global warming, the Suez Canal was blocked for months by a stranded ship, and the Houthis' attacks on merchant ships disrupted it. The pandemic has shown that the world's trade routes and supply chains are extremely fragile and vital. Can you imagine a world where a medicine, vaccine or substance that could save millions in the event of a major disaster could not be delivered to anyone? For this reason alone, the world should applaud the leadership of the People's Republic of China for its foresight and support the Belt and Road Initiative.

Even the West, which is constantly criticizing and slandering the Belt and Road Initiative, can no longer smear the sun and is trying to take precautions because it knows very well that it has to keep up with the developing and changing world. That is why it had to announce its own alternative Belt and Road project at the G20 summit in New Delhi, the capital of India, in September 2023. However, as everyone knows, great powers never act without a plan. Therefore, the questions to be asked will guide us. We will continue with questions such as why India and why the route through Saudi Arabia, bypassing the Suez Canal, and the route to the port of Haifa in Israel, once its mortal enemy.

Hasan Çapan

President

Türkiye – China Friendship Foundation