THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE Natálie Škrabánková Asia in IR March 2022 What is BRI? ■A global infrastructure development strategy adopted by Chinese government in 2013 ■Goal is to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations ■A centerpiece of the Chinese President Xi Jinping`s foreign policy ■A central component of Xi`s Major Country Diplomacy = strategy, which calls for China to assume a greater leadership role for global affairs in accordance with its rising power and status ■Some estimates list BRI as one of the largest infrastructure and investment projects in history (70 countries, 65% of world`s population and 40% of global GDP) – data from 2017 ■BRI refers to historic `Silk Road` trade route (used in antiquity) Belt & Road ■At first BRI was announced as `Silk Road Economic Belt ` ■Belt is referring to the proposed overland routes for road and rail transportation through landlocked Central Asia ■Road is short for the `21st Century Maritime Silk Road` = referring to the Indo-Pacific sea routes through Southeast Asia to South Asia, Middle East and Africa ■Examples of the invesments are airports, bridges, ports, skyscrapers, railroads, roads, .. ■Should be done by the year 2049 = centenary of the founding of China Obsah obrázku text Popis byl vytvořen automaticky Silk Road Economic Belt Obsah obrázku mapa Popis byl vytvořen automaticky ■1. The North belt would go through Central Asia and Russia to Europe ■2. The Central belt passes through Central Asia and West Asia to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean ■3. The South belt runs from China through Southeast Asia and South Asia and on to the Indian Ocean through Pakistan Ice Silk Road Obsah obrázku mapa Popis byl vytvořen automaticky ■China & Russia project along the Northern Sea Route in the Artic Objectives of the BRI for China ■Development of the infrastructures of Asian countries ■Strenghtening dipomatic relations whilst reducing dependency on US ■Creating new markets for Chinese products ■Integrating commodities-rich countries more closely into the Chinese economy Risks of the BRI ■Involved countries are at risk of not being able to repay their loans ■The affected nations – Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan and Tajikistan – are among the poorest in their regions and will owe more than half of all their foreign debt to China ■Critics worry China could use “debt-trap diplomacy” to extract strategic concessions – such as over territorial disputes in the South China Sea or silence on human rights violations ■Concerns are also about a form of economic imperialism that gives China too much leverage over other countries, often those that are smaller and poorer ■Chinese commercial presence = leading to expanded military presence ■Others worry China will export its political model What about ecology? ■BRI represents risks and also opportunities for sustainable development ■Prioritizing economic development over environmental protections ■Risks: overuse of natural resources, emission of pollutants, disruption of ecosystems, water pollution as a result of poorly planned infrastructure projects ■The development of port infrastructure could impact sensitive species and marine habitats like coral reefs ■Up to 85% of BRI projects can be linked to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions Financing ■1. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ■Goals: enhance regional integration, promote economic development, improve public access to social services ■2. Silk Road Fund ■3. China Development Bank ■4. Bank of China ■Others Infrastructure networks: Land corridors ■1. The New Eurasian Land Bridge, which runs from Western China to Western Russia through Kazakhstan, and includes the Silk Road Railway through China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany ■2. Corridor that will run from Northern China through Mongolia to the Russian Far East. 2012 - Russia-China Investment Fund = bilateral integration ■3. The China–Central Asia–West Asia Corridor, which will run from Western China to Turkey ■4. The China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridor, which will run from Southern China to Singapore ■5. The Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network (Nepal) ■6. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Obsah obrázku mapa Popis byl vytvořen automaticky India, Japan & BRI ■India - ,,The BRI is a plan to dominate Asia, warning of what some analysts have called a “String of Pearls” geoeconomic strategy whereby China creates unsustainable debt burdens for its Indian Ocean neighbors in order to seize control of regional choke points.`` ■India is unsetted by China`s decades-long embrace of its traditional rival – Pakistan ■India is also spending money on infrastructure plans in Afghanistan ■Japan is interested in regional infrastructure develompemt, but also worry about Chinese influence Europe, Russia & BRI ■Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal = signed provisional agreements to cooperate on BRI projects ■During 2018 trip to China, Emmanuel Macron said the BRI could make partner countries “vassal states” ■Experts claims China is using BRI funds to gain influence in Balkan countries that are on track to become EU members, thereby providing Chinese access to EU market ■Russia has become one of the BRI’s most enthusiastic partners G7 offering an alternative vision ■G7 summit in Cornwall 2021 – B3W = Build Back Better World ■Infrastructure develompment of low and middle income countries ■The initiative aims to catalyze funding for quality infrastructure from the private sector and will encourage private-sector investments that support "climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equality“ ■February 2022 – China is willing to join B3W initiation Obsah obrázku exteriér, obloha, země, osoba Popis byl vytvořen automaticky Sources ■https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/jul/30/what-china-belt-road-initiative-silk -road-explainer ■https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Belt-and-Road-Initiative-overland-and-maritime-routes_fig1 _351955076 ■https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Map-of-the-Belt-and-Silk-Road-and-21-st-Century-Maritime-S ilk-Road_fig1_327119928 ■https://www.economist.com/china/2018/04/14/china-wants-to-be-a-polar-power ■https://www.beltroad-initiative.com/belt-and-road/ ■https://www.jstor.org/stable/26760128?searchText=the+belt+and+road+initiative&searchUri=%2Faction% 2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dthe%2Bbelt%2Band%2Broad%2Binitiative%26so%3Drel%26efqs%3DeyJjdHkiOlsiYW05 MWNtNWhiQT09Il0sImRpc2MiOltdfQ%253D%253D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastl y-default%3A7af929e6e32f65756839efd36665741f&seq=1 ■https://www.jstor.org/stable/26591865?searchText=the%20belt%20and%20road%20initiative&searchUri=%2 Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dthe%2Bbelt%2Band%2Broad%2Binitiative%26so%3Drel%26efqs%3DeyJjdHki OlsiYW05MWNtNWhiQT09Il0sImRpc2MiOltdfQ%253D%253D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreq id=fastly-default%3A7af929e6e32f65756839efd36665741f ■https://www.jstor.org/stable/26642285?searchText=the%20belt%20and%20road%20initiative&searchUri=%2 Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dthe%2Bbelt%2Band%2Broad%2Binitiative%26so%3Drel%26efqs%3DeyJjdHki OlsiYW05MWNtNWhiQT09Il0sImRpc2MiOltdfQ%253D%253D%26groupefq%3DWyJyZXZpZXciLCJyZXNlYXJjaF9yZXBvcnQiL CJjb250cmlidXRlZF90ZXh0Iiwic2VhcmNoX2NoYXB0ZXIiLCJtcF9yZXNlYXJjaF9yZXBvcnRfcGFydCIsImNvbnRyaWJ1dGVk X2NvbnRhaW5lciIsInNlYXJjaF9hcnRpY2xlIl0%253D%26pagemark%3DeyJwYWdlIjoyLCJzdGFydHMiOnsiSlNUT1JCYXNpY yI6MjV9fQ%253D%253D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ab7e6fcf11 d8637c24b37cb368f37f974 ■https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8zzL2aBo2M ■https://www.oecd.org/finance/Chinas-Belt-and-Road-Initiative-in-the-global-trade-investment-and-fi nance-landscape.pdf ■https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative ■https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57452158