China showered Djibouti with investments after bringing the small African nation into the BRI’s orbit.
Beijing, China:
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has thousands of infrastructure projects in every corner of the world, generating a staggering $2 trillion in contracts while stirring international controversy.
Here, AFP looks at five key projects:
Laos: high-speed rail
Laos received huge loans from China to partly finance a $6 billion high-speed rail line connecting it to the underdeveloped landlocked country.
The nearly 1,000-kilometer line connecting the Chinese city of Kunming with the Laotian capital Vientiane opened in 2021 and has served tens of millions of passengers, Beijing said.
It is seen as the first thread in a vast web of railway projects that will bring China closer to other countries in Southeast Asia.
Both sides have touted the project as a public good, with Beijing saying it “brings friendship, happiness and opportunity.”
Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone told China’s state-owned Global Times on Sunday that the railway “will benefit not only Laos, but also neighboring countries.”
But critics say debt-stricken Laos is unlikely to make much money from the project and will struggle to repay China, its main creditor.
Pakistan: Economic Corridor
Plans to develop an ‘economic corridor’ linking China and Pakistan received new impetus when they were included in the BRI framework a decade ago.
The staunch allies have earmarked tens of billions of dollars for a series of transport and energy projects connecting western China to Pakistan’s Gwadar port.
The former chairman of China’s state-owned port company in July called the site “a blank sheet of paper, and we can draw the most beautiful painting on it.”
But analysts at the MERICS think tank have called the corridor “an ambitious gamble that increases risks” for Pakistan’s perpetually distressed economy.
Djibouti: Naval Base
China showered Djibouti with investment after bringing the small African nation into the orbit of the BRI – and a sprawling military base is at the center.
The reported $590 million facility is Beijing’s first permanent naval base outside China and is strategically located between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Beijing has said the base is used to resupply naval vessels, support regional peacekeeping and humanitarian operations and tackle piracy.
But its proximity to a U.S. military base has raised concerns about espionage and Chinese power projection in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
In response, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh condemned Washington’s “fixation” on the “incessant” complaints about Washington’s base.
Greece: a foothold in Europe
China raised European eyebrows in 2016 when a state-owned shipping company bought a majority stake in Greece’s ailing port of Piraeus.
Athens formally joined the BRI two years later, and the two countries see the port as an important transit hub connecting the Asian and European continents.
Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency said in August that “investments from China have breathed new life into a port that once faced development bottlenecks.”
Opponents say the project aims to use Beijing’s economic clout to increase its influence over a debt-strapped European Union member.
China denies that it is seeking malign influence over other countries through the BRI.
Italy: Ready to withdraw?
Italy shocked Western allies in 2019 by announcing its participation in the BRI during a state visit by Xi Jinping.
The announcement made Rome the first member of the Group of Seven advanced economies to sign up for the Chinese president’s flagship project.
The countries signed a series of commercial deals, but they did little to close the yawning trade deficit or allay concerns about Beijing’s outsized influence.
Italy now appears to be considering a withdrawal from the arrangement, with the original memorandum of understanding due to expire in March next year.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last month that Rome “has yet to make a decision” on a possible withdrawal.
But Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was less equivocal, saying the BRI “has not delivered the results we hoped for.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
