The Belt and Road Initiative: China's Global Infrastructure Push - Essay Sample

Introduction

Have you ever heard of the Belt and Road Initiative? What is it? The country behind it? The nations involved in it? Its purpose? Or even its impact on globalization? Well, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a strategy of global development initiated and implemented in 2013 by the Government of China (Cai, 2017). It encompasses the development of infrastructure as well as a vast quantity of investments in about 70 nations and different organizations internationally (Cai, 2017). It involves a strategy of facilitating trade as proposed by its founder, China, to develop together with its regional member nations in Africa, Asia and Europe. BRI is a significantly ambitious program meant to boost the accessibility and connection between China and its member countries in Africa and Europe region through the land as well as maritime networks and routes (Huang, 2016). The initiative incorporates a lot of corridors that enable China to build airports, ports, land infrastructure and invest funds among other projects. These aims at improving business and good connectivity between China and other regions that are part of the initiative (Cai, 2017). Thus, boosts economic growth and trade. The initiative is guided and operated following its five main pillars. These pillars include the promotion of trade facilitation, the strengthening of policy communication, enhancement of money circulation, the improvement of infrastructure communication, and the enlightenment of people about it (Cai, 2017). The paper, therefore, outlines and discusses how China's Belt and Road Initiative will impact future globalization.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

China's Belt and Road Initiative is a 21st-century project termed as the Silk Road and comprises of the corridors of overland called belt, and roads of maritime which make up the lanes for shipping (Hurley et al., 2019). The initiative is a multibillion-dollar plan of the Chinese Marshall that originates from Beijing and is a state-propelled campaign for economic dominance globally (Du & Zhang, 2018). The project stimulates the slow growth of the economy, as it acts as a campaign for massive marketing of the global Chinese investment. The expected cost of the initiative is approximately £760bn, which translates to more than 1 trillion US Dollars (Du & Zhang, 2018). There are, however, various estimates regarding the already spent amount. As per one analysis, there is an investment of more than 210 billion US Dollars (Hurley et al., 2019). A better portion of the investment has been invested in Asia by China (Cai, 2017). The nation's foreign investments are not just limited to that; the project also implies that China has its construction firms engaged across the entire globe on a scale and dimension that is unparalleled. These companies have managed to secure an amount that exceeds 340 billion US Dollars via contracts of construction along with the initiative up to date (Du & Zhang, 2018). However, the dominance of the construction sector by China is pegged with the expense of its partnership with those foreign countries involved.

Risks for the Nations Involved

Lately, the governments of nations like Malaysia up to Pakistan are rethinking the costs associated with these construction projects (Liu & Dunford, 2016). For instance, Sri Lanka has a cautionary story as her government has leased its port for the Chinese government for 99 years after much struggle with settling the loan it owes China (Du & Zhang, 2018). According to the Global Development Center, other eight more member-nations of the initiative are at the verge of being victims of heavy debts (Du & Zhang, 2018). The affected countries are inclusive of Pakistan, Djibouti, Laos, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Montenegro and Tajikistan (Du & Zhang, 2018). These nations are some of the poorest BRI members in their regions and are, therefore, on the verge of owing China amount that exceeds half their foreign debts (Du & Zhang, 2018). Many other nations across the globe are worried because China can adopt the diplomacy of debt trap against these nations so that they can strategically extract concessions. For instance, the disputes of territory in the Chinese Southern Sea, or even absence of intervention and voice regarding the violations of human rights (Hurley et al., 2019). Records have it that, there is an undisclosed debt that Tajikistan owed China, and was written off in exchange of 447 square miles, which is approximately 1,158 square kilometres of territory that was in dispute (Huang, 2016). According to Scott Morris, a member staff author of the Global Development Report based in Washington, there are a couple of scenarios where China gives debt to the nations with risky environments (Huang, 2016). The picture portrayed here is that China's motive is differently intentional. Morris added that such situations accrue China's leverage to achieve her other motive that does not relate to the real loan.

The impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative on Globalization

The continued expansion of China's Belt and Road Initiative raises several concerns regarding its imperialism economically, as China gains more leverage over the BRI-member nations that are poorer and smaller. According to Australian National University associate professor, Jane Golley, China gains that advantage of influencing people and winning more allies (Cai, 2017). Golley added that China had put forth the big initiative project to frighten people, instead of implementing her economic power to make and have many economic allies, the nation has instilled much fear with the aim of influence. According to Xi'an's Jiaotong University professor, Shan Wenhua, the foreign policy signature by Xi, is that the initial principal attempt by the Government of China to assume an approach that is proactive towards cooperation internationally is by taking responsibility (Huang, 2016). There is a worry among people that the enlarged presence of China across parts of the world commercially and economically will result in the expansion of the presence of her military. China has its first overseas military base in Djibouti (Huang, (2016). As per many analysis, nearly every port, as well as other infrastructure of transport being erected in Djibouti, is meant for both the Chinese military and commercial reasons (Du & Zhang, 2018). According to Jonathan Hillman, who is the project director of the Asia Reconnection at CSIS, if the erected ports can carry luggage, then it can as well host the Chinese military troops (Liu & Danford, 2016). There are some other worries that China will have its model of politics exported to other parts of the world. According to Germany's PEN Center general secretary, Herbert Wiesner, human rights are abandoned and ditched beside China's Belt and Road Initiative (Du & Zhang, 2018).

There is a likelihood of continuity regarding the Belt and Road Initiative since the project, among other reasons, portrays loyalty to Chinese President Xi. The project has its endorsement from the constitution of the Chinese communist party, which also eradicated its term limits, thus provided room for Xi to proceed with the Belt and Road Initiative long enough as he wishes (Huang, 2016). The initiative also offers opportunities for some other disabled Chinese projects to thrive overseas and be part of the leading project, as stated by Winslow Robertson, a specialist regarding matters of relations between China and Africa (Du & Zhang, 2018). Winslow added that the project is not just an initiative that is centralized, but rather more of a brand. The aim behind the Belt and Road Initiative is not just about the erection of infrastructure; China intends to establish international courts in the initial hub of the first Silk Road in Xi'an and Shenzhen, for the resolution of commercially-oriented disputes concerning the main project (Huang, 2016). According to the director of Asia Project Reconnection at the Strategic and International Studies Center in Washington, Jonathan Hillman, there is a reminder that Belt and Roads Initiative is not solely for just railways, roads and other network infrastructure. Still, it also a strategy for China to draft new rules, create institutions that portray the interests of the Chinese citizens, as well as re-modify her other dimensions of infrastructure (Hurley et al., 2019).

Conclusion

Generally, the Belt and Road Initiative is a program that ambitiously strategizes China's economic relations with its member nations, as well as with the rest of the world. The initiative incorporates a lot of corridors that enable China to build airports, ports, land infrastructure and invest funds among other projects. These aims at improving business and good connectivity between China and other regions that are part of the initiative. Thus, boosts economic growth and trade. The initiative is guided and operated per its five main pillars. These pillars include the promotion of trade facilitation, the strengthening of policy communication, enhancement of money circulation, the improvement of infrastructure communication, and the enlightenment of people about it. The initiative, therefore, puts into a clear understanding of the economic intentions of China, regional member nations as well as that of central Asia through its implicational analysis.

References

Cai, P. (2017). Understanding China's belt and road initiative. https://think-asia.org/handle/11540/6810

Du, J., & Zhang, Y. (2018). Does one belt one road initiative promote Chinese overseas direct investment?. China Economic Review, 47, 189-205. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043951X17300743

Huang, Y. (2016). Understanding China's Belt & Road initiative: motivation, framework and assessment. China Economic Review, 40, 314-321. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043951X16300785

Hurley, J., Morris, S., & Portelance, G. (2019). Examining the debt implications of the Belt and Road Initiative from a policy perspective. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 3(1), 139-175. https://systems.enpress-publisher.com/index.php/jipd/article/view/1123

Liu, W., & Dunford, M. (2016). Inclusive globalization: Unpacking China's belt and road initiative. Area Development and Policy, 1(3), 323-340. https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23792949.2016.1232598#.XuK20NUzbDc