Beyond belt & road

“The ocean is vast for it refuses no rivers.” This Chinese adage is being aptly implemented by the current Chinese leadership, while rolling out its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).The gigantic initiative – the brainchild of the powerful President Xi Jiang – was unveiled in 2013 with a view to revive the old Silk Route by laying a network of roads, railways, and ports across much of the world connecting China to Asia, Europe, and beyond.The developing countries warmly welcomed the initiative hoping there creaky infrastructure would be replaced by a modern one, which would help them plug into the global economy.However, it raised eyebrows among China’s competitors, particularly the United States, which saw it as a move by Beijing to expand its political and economic clout across the world to help realize its dream of becoming the main global economic power.Japan, China’s regional rival in building roads and ports, too has been cautious to the Xi’s initiative. It resisted calls for embracing the initiative wholeheartedly by stressing on more transparency and better quality of construction in line with the international standards.India, another regional rival to China, too has been largely evasive to sign onto the initiative as it feels that the project would leave it strategically encircled. Moreover, it is also wary of the Beijing’s plan to extend the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) —the BRI’s flagship project – into Azad Kashmir as New Delhi erroneously considers the entire Himalayan region as its integral part.Amidst these concerns, the United States and other critics of the BRI have also tried to cash on the complaints of some developing nations over the massive debts incurred by the BRI-related projects as well as huge influx of the Chinese workers to carry out these projects, effectively sidelining the local workforce.The most glaring example of the so-called debt-trap was the Sri Lanka’s southern port of Hambantota built under the BRI. Last year, Sri Lanka handed over the port to China as it could not pay back the loans. The controversial project also triggered violent protests by the local people widely suspected to be fueled by India as it does not want China to have a foothold in its neighborhood.Interestingly however, China has not reacted angrily to these widespread concerns and has rather tried to assuage these fears through diplomacy as well as through constructive engagement with the concerned parties. While opening the second Belt and Road Forum last week, President Xi said China was well aware of the widespread criticism of its rivals as well as complaints of the developing countries, assuring that Beijing would do all to assuage those fears. "Everything should be done in a transparent way, and we should have a zero tolerance for corruption," Xi told the ceremony attended by a galaxy of around 40 world leaders including Prime Minister Imran Khan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad. Xi said his government will now offer a "debt-sustainability framework" to encourage compliance with international standards in infrastructure contracting.In a public demonstration of its readiness to address the concerns over the BRI-related projects, the Chinese officials recently renegotiated and brought down the cost of a railway project in Malaysia by a third after scathing criticism from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.In order to bring in more transparency in line with international standards, the Chinese government is increasingly engaging the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as well as other well-reputed global banks to ensure transparency in the execution of BRI projects.Interestingly, despite criticism, none of the countries, even the United States, has rejected the ambitious initiative outright. There has been growing calls in the Indian media that New Delhi should not miss the train by staying out of the project. Britain, which has traditionally been allied to Washington, too has welcomed the Chinese initiative.Speaking at the Beijing Forum, British Finance Secretary Phillip Hammond hailed the initiative as “great vision” and said London is committed to realise the potential of the BRI. Last month, Italy became the first G-7 country to sign up to the scheme causing unease in Washington and Brussels.More than half of the European Union’s 28 members have already signed bilateral endorsements with the BRI, despite US concerns.On the back of its decades-old, time-tested friendship with China, Pakistan has been a staunch proponent of the BRI from the day one and has received highest Chinese capital for the CPEC.Prime Minister Imran Khan has very rightly described the BRI as a blessing for Pakistan and said entire Pakistani nation fully endorses President Xi’s initiative as, given its geostrategic location, the project has made the country a transregional economic hub.But the dream of a country as well as a region for economic progress cannot be realised without sustainable peace and stability.The prime minister during his China trip very rightly pointed out that Pakistan is making strenuous efforts for durable peace and stability in its neighborhood in order to achieve economic development for itself as well as for the region. He referred to Pakistan’s recent efforts to open a channel of communication between the United States and the Taliban for restoration of peace in the war-ravaged Afghanistan as well as endeavors to remove border-related security irritants with Iran.He said,” India is the only neighboring country with which Pakistan has uneasy relations but expressed the hope that after the ongoing elections there and formation of a new government in New Delhi the long-stalled peace process between the two uneasy neighbours would be revived”.Interestingly, China while launching the BRI has itself set an example showing how economic progress can be achieved without getting bogged down into political disputes.China is locked into a bitter trade war with the United States, while Beijing also has differences with Washington and its Western allies over the South China Sea. It is also in dispute with Japan over the ownership of the islands in the sea.However, it believes that economic cooperation cannot be made hostage to the political disputes. It, therefore, has not refused any country, including its rivals, to join the BRI, thus turning the centuries-old Chinese saying into a reality.The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad

from The News International - Money Matters http://bit.ly/2J6rrpZ