In October 2017, Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered an hourslong address at a Communist Party congress in which he made a key prediction: that China would move “closer to center stage” in the world.

Today, China is close to dominating the world stage.

Recent global matters — the Taliban triumph in Afghanistan, the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, the "Quad" summit in the White House and the virtually simultaneous release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada and two Canadians in China — all see China deeply involved, even when its name isn’t mentioned.