In China’s inbound foreign trade, the yuan’s approval rate has reached 50%. This means that more than half of imports and payments from abroad are paid in their own currency. For example, only a few hegemonic powers have had the privilege of importing oil from the Middle East and giving them home-made paper money, but China has now reached that position to some extent.

China has an overwhelming manufacturing productivity. The competition for supremacy between the U.S. and China will take on a new level if it succeeds in shedding the dollar from the financial system, as it is making a leap in science and technology, high-tech industries, and AI.

The current situation is reminiscent of the United States and Britain in the early 1900s. At that time, the United States was already ranked first in the world in terms of GDP, but Britain was ranked first in terms of global hegemony, reserve currency, and military power. The United States adhered to isolationism, and the British Empire led the world order.

The British Empire’s influence in the 1920s was already greatly weakened as the energy center shifted from coal to oil, the colonial-based economic structure was greatly shaken by World War I, and finances worsened due to the burden of war expenses. The restoration of the post-war era was delayed in Europe and the colonies were not in a good economic situation, although money from around the world was concentrated in the United States.

The Great Depression, which erupted at the end of the 1929 boom, posed a survival problem to the global economy, and democracy in many European countries, which were still weak, collapsed, and hatred and discrimination became the zeitgeist, and fascism prevailed. Fascism was popular and was considered an alternative to a chaotic era at the time. The end was a devastating great war, and after tens of millions of people died in the war, the United States, along with the arbitrary Soviet Union, led the global order. It took about 50 years for the United States to become the world’s No. 1 leader in GDP to become a hegemonic power.

For some reason, it seems that the situation is not much different from what it was 100 years ago. The world we knew is gradually disappearing, and change is underway. Only when we are alert can we protect the peace and prosperity of this land.