Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Lending Hands Come with Claws
Akhil Ramesh
Abstract:
With the economic crisis unfolding in Sri Lanka, there is a renewed interest in better understanding and analyzing the Belt and Road Initiative to prevent nations from both falling under China’s orbit and as a consequence to its “debt-traps”. This issue brief broadens the scope of analysis on the BRI by examining projects in South East Asia that may have greater geo-economic and geo-strategic significance than debt traps or deep sea ports or even power rivalry. While China has taken advantage of the infrastructure deficit in South East Asia as it has in other parts of the world, the old adage, ‘the devil is in the details’ is an appropriate characterization of the BRI in the region. This paper details the cost of roads laid per mile to the significance of special economic zones (SEZ) in the Mekong region in shaping the regional trade architecture.
Related Publications
-
China’s BRI Diplomacy: What it Means to India and India’s Rise
Introduction: In the post-COVID-19 world order, particularly, amidst intensifying great power competition and changing regional and global power dynamics, infrastructural advancement has taken on new and expanded significance. However, the […]
-
Jagannath Panda: “India’s INSTC Commitment Is Not Reliant on Western Endorsement”
Interview conducted by Ilya Roubanis, Caucasus Watch The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200km mostly overland network stretching from India to Russia, via Azerbaijan and Iran, branching […]
-
Trade, Connectivity and Supply Chains in EU-India Relations
In the decade and a half since 2007 when the EU and India first started their FTA negotiations, the world economic order has undergone a sea change. During that period, […]
-
Navigating BRI and Indo-Pacific Strategy: Challenge for South Asian Small States
This paper explores the intersection of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) among South Asian Small States, analyzing the interplay between the two initiatives and […]
-
Can UAE become an Indo-Pacific Sea Power?
Amidst the intensified race over connectivity in the Indo-Pacific in a competitive infrastructure marketplace, the UAE is positioning itself to play an important role through strategic investments in ports abroad […]