The US diplomat website published on January 20, which published a "Belt and Road" and its alternative scheme entitled by China: Competition or complementary?The author is the associate professor of Security Research at the US Army Military Academy.Article excerpts as follows:
Since the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed in 2013, China's investment in thousands of related projects around the world has filled some investment gaps in the infrastructure of the global southern infrastructure to a certain extent, but it has also triggered China and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United StatesThe geopolitical and geopolitical competition of its partners.Therefore, many of them intend to promote their economic corridors to launch "competition" with the "Belt and Road" to weaken China's growing influence.
But this approach does not produce expected results.Some economic corridors, which aims to compete with the "Belt and Road", have existed before the "Belt and Road" proposed and promoted the latter's appearance.These economic corridors may be complementary, rather than a competitive relationship.
Traditional views believe that as a grand strategy in China, the "Belt and Road" is reshaping an international system that is conducive to the interests of the country.This view hints that China can obtain geopolitics and geopolitical impact through the role of the "Belt and Road" in terms of loans and investment.
The United States and its partners have announced a batch of initiatives to compete with the "Belt and Road".Ironically, some of these initiatives have been proposed earlier than the “Belt and Road”, and it has promoted the latter's development, such as the East -West Economic Corridor and the Southern Economic Corridor promoted by Japan in Southeast Asia.Both corridors were included in Japan's "free and open Indian Ocean-Pacific" strategy.They originated in 1998, when they were part of the American and Japanese -led Asian Development Bank Greater Mekong Economic Cooperation Program.This cooperation plan has been involved in Chinese provincial institutions since its launch in 1992.The "Belt and Road" Bangladesh and Burma Economic Corridor, the China-Central South Peninsula Economic Corridor and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor began in the provincial-level initiatives of Yunnan and Guangxi. After the 1990s, the Greater Mekong River sub-regional investment was improved.
Although this case cannot represent all infrastructure initiatives, it does reveal a inner tension in this discussion: these "competitive" corridors may actually be complementary.This is especially from the perspective of participating countries.After all, if a power plant is constructed by Chinese enterprises with Chinese capital, a industrial park is constructed by Japanese companies with Japanese capital, then these projects may solve the energy and industrial capacity of participating countries.
From the perspective of the initiative, these projects are also complementary.It is still an example above. A Japanese investment and construction industrial park will naturally receive reliable energy supply, whether the United States or China is involved in investment and construction.The East Coast Economic Corridor proposed by India reflects this: the corridor may directly or indirectly benefit from the "Belt and Road" and the Economic Corridor that has been established in the Greater Micong River.
In addition, the reality is that the project along the “Belt and Road” and its “competitive” corridor is built by China and external lenders, and it is often operated by multinational joint venture enterprises. Therefore, the relationship between them is simpler than simple.Competition is more complicated.This means that they should pay more attention to how these initiatives use the positive results of specific schemes to benefit the project initiative and participating countries, and how to reduce negative impacts.(Compiled/Xiong Wenyuan)
