Eurasia Dairy presents an article titled "BRI and World Canvas of Geopolitics" published in Pakistan Observer.
Article by Mehmood Ul Hasan Khan, expert on geopolitical and regional studies.
Despite hue and cry of the western media’s fake reports and false narratives of paid agents, the Chinese One Belt & One Road Initiative (BRI) has now become new economic “stabilizer” and “reliable driver” to achieve the desired goals of greater regional connectivity, socio-economic prosperity, green industrialization and last but not the least, infrastructural development in all the member countries.
According to many published reports of the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), world economy is shrinking because of many complex and complicated “protective” and “coercive” economic policies of the US/EU, inhuman and unilateral geopolitical sanctions against Russia and imbalanced geostrategic manoeuvrings of the US, allied forces, especially the NATO eastern expansion have badly derailed and disturbed the regional as well as global supply chains.
It fears that follies of the West may push countries to another international war on energy & food security in the near future.
Central Asia, especially the Republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the main hubs of Chinese BRI due to which the western plotters have been in the dirty politics to create political chaos, social uncertainty, and economic instability to decompose BRI projects for greater regional connectivity in the region and beyond since long.
Sponsored acts of social unrest of Kazakhstan in January 2022, manipulated political misunderstanding in the Republic of Karakalpakstan July 2022, and last but not least schemed ethnic division in Tajikistan have produced devastated consequences and political pandemonium proved anti-productive for the ongoing projects of the BRI in these countries.
But thanks to visionary leaderships of these countries who initiated numerous people’s friendly policies to mitigate the poisonous campaigns and schemes of the West against China and of course BRI
. Thus Chinese BRI has been bringing drastic changes in the lives of common people, communities, societies and states alike in the Central Asian Region. The states and societies have been the main recipients of the Chinese BRI projects in these countries which is good omen for inter-regional trade & commerce and intra-regional connectivity too.
Frankly speaking, it has become one of the inspiring sources to bring an agricultural revolution in Kazakhstan where lots of mutually beneficial projects are being carried out in the country.
It has further increased business/economic potential and regional connectivity of Uzbekistan which has now become one of the important countries for integrated transport hub in the region.
Undoubtedly, it has become a source of hope for a good life and prosperous economy in Tajikistan. So, common denominators of a qualitative life are being further revolutionized by Chinese BRI in the entire Central Asian Region.
Even South Asia, especially Sri Lanka has been under the stealth radar of imperialistic forces due to its increasingly developed economic ties with China.
The Western powers have been dubbed Chinese investments under the BRI as its outreach to the backyard of India in the Indian Occasion and dissimilated all kinds of false, fake and fictional news about economic fragility, political high risks and social division.
In this connection, the deadly and sponsored terrorist’s attacks in Sri Lankan churches was instigated by the West and its sleeper cells in the region proved unfortunately last nail in its coffin because its macro-economy heavily depends upon international tourism which became inoperative and hostage to Western schemers afterward.
Moreover, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has further weakened its economic capacity to avoid recession, economic meltdown, inflation and price hike.
Moreover, persistent weak economic indicators because of incapacity to avail benefit from Chinese FDI under the flagship BRI further derelict its social fabrics.
Ultimately political instability proved terminal. Thanks now political insanity is getting better and it is recovering from socio-economic deprivation and political divide.
Having said this, the Chinese government has been supporting the Sri Lankan government to come out of this complicated situation.
Most recently, China said that it firmly supported Sri Lanka in defending its national sovereignty and offered to upgrade the Belt and Road projects.
A huge consignment of rice and other essential food items has been dispatched to Colombo to lessen some social worries of the Sri Lankan government and people alike. Moreover, China’s investment of an estimated $1.4 billion in Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port City project is the largest single foreign investment in the island nation’s history.
China poured huge investments in the Hambantota and Colombo ports. However, it raised serious concerns to India which considered it as a Chinese heavy presence in its backyard in the Indian Ocean.
With sovereign defaults looming on the horizon, Sri Lanka is now desperate for new investment or aid.
China has empathy for Sri Lanka’s economic plight and is keen on helping it, there ought to be an early start of the negotiations and signing of a China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, so as to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.
The proposed FTA has been under negotiation since 2015. Sri Lanka is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in finance, economy, trade and tourism and advance the negotiation of the bilateral free trade agreement. A Sri Lanka-China FTA would eradicate much of these dubious practices.
China has invested billions of dollars in Sri Lanka, building ports, airports, roads and power stations since 2013, as part of its BRI.
Chinese loans account for 10.5 percent of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt. However, Beijing feels that there is no appreciation of this in the governmental and political domain.
Projects such as the Colombo Port City, Hambantota Port and other BRI investments have been delayed and are not yet ready for cash flow generation because of indecisiveness of its political leadership.
To conclude, the syndrome of Cold War-II has been again disseminated against China. The anti-China theory has been reactivated.
Heavy presence of the US naval fleets in Indo-Pacific, 5th US arms sale to Taiwan/ Nancy Pelosi’s rumoured plan for a trip to Taiwan, nasty activities in South China Sea, propagation against Pacific Island development program, QUAD, AUKUS and emerging socio-economic partnerships all clearly indicate the US and its ally’s high levels of frustration against China’s economic growth and friendly role in the global governance.
Moreover, the announcement of the G7-sponsored Build Back Better World (B3W) of US$ 600 billion and the EU Global Gateway €300 billion plan to counter China’s BRI have started a new battle in the world.
It has further divided the world into two distinctive pools. It seems that since China’s BRI is the mega project of the 21th century, all member countries, communities and continents alike have outclassed other competitors.
Therefore G7 B3W and EU (GGW) do not have any comparison with China because both are of political specifications.
It is bitter reality that right from the beginning, the United States of America has been assisting other countries with harsh conditions which always ruined their social fabrics, political domains and economic spheres/independence around the globe.
Its more than 835 military bases around the globe has been one of the main concerns of regional and global insecurity.
Moreover, the US latest confession of “Regime Change Doctrine” has now started a hot debate in the world and most of the countries now consider it dangerous for the principles of globalization, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international laws.
Unfortunately, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has once again increased traditional security threats which have further widened the peace deficit, US-China trade war, ultimately shaken the foundation of global governance.
Moreover, non-state security threats in terms of terrorism, climate change, financial crisis, energy crisis, food crisis, and large-scale contagious diseases are increasingly rambling, bringing exceptional challenges to global governance. In net shell, the US/EU constant superior mentality phobia and hegemonic inertia has further worsened the global governance system and produced serious faulty lines.
In this connection, planned distortion in the domestic affairs of other so-called opponent countries, supply of conditional loans, imposition of economic sanctions and intentionally ignoring the genuine security concerns of main stakeholders (China, Russia, Pakistan etc.) are creating serious issues of security, connectivity, socio-economic prosperity, human survival, quick economic recovery, further consolidation of globalization, economic equality, corporate equity and social justice. A new but imminent currency war between the Dollar and the Yuan is on the card.
In this connection, Chinese BRI is the way forward for achieving the desired goals of greater regional connectivity, increase of trade & commerce activities, FDIs, infrastructural development, eradication of poverty, immense social development, eradication of poverty and generation of new jobs in all the participatory countries and others alike.
