US plans projects in S. America countering China’s BRI

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context:

• A group of US officials are set to tour Latin America this week to scout infrastructure projects as they prepare a counter to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

More in News

• The group is tasked with turning Build Back Better World (B3W), the international infrastructure investment initiative announced by the Group of Seven richest democracies in June, into reality.
• The program is focused on areas including climate, health, digital technology and gender equality.
• A formal US B3W launch event is planned for early next year that will include details of some initial projects aimed at narrowing the $40 trillion needed by developing nations by 2035.
• In just over a month, US officials also plan to huddle with allies at the Group of 20 rich countries and COP26 climate change conferences in Europe, which China is also set to attend. 

About China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

• China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Xi launched in 2013, involves development and investment initiatives stretching worldwide. 
• More than 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports and highways.
• It is a union of development and investment initiatives that would stretch from East Asia to Europe, and in the process significantly expand China’s economic and political influence in these massive regions.

• Belt and Road, or yi dai yi lu, is a “21st century silk road,” confusingly made up of a “belt” of overland corridors and a maritime “road” of shipping lanes.
• The plan, initially named ‘One Belt, One Road’, is two-pronged:
  • Overland Silk Road Economic Belt: On land, Beijing aims to connect the country’s underdeveloped hinterland to Europe through Central Asia.
  • Maritime Silk Road: The maritime component will build ports and railways to connect the fast growing Southeast Asian region to China’s southern provinces and beyond till Europe via the Middle East and East Africa.

Concerns

• • Economic imperialism: It is a form of economic imperialism that gives China too much leverage over other countries, often those that are smaller and poorer.
  • Expanding military presence: Some worry expanded Chinese commercial presence around the world will eventually lead to expanded military presence.
  • In 2016 China established its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Analysts say almost all the ports and other transport infrastructure being built can be dual-use for commercial and military purposes, called militarization of the supply chain.

• India’s Views

• • India, for its part, had taken an early stance against the BRI and refused to participate in the inaugural Belt and Road Forum in 2017 as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
  • It had long emphasised that connectivity projects should respect the participating country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, not create unsustainable debt burden, involve transparent accounting, and create benefits for the local economy.

Major initiatives by other countries (to counter China’s BRI)

• Asia-Africa Growth Corridor: Japan, along with India has unveiled their own development cooperation with third countries under the banner of the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor.
• US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC): The US, meanwhile, has launched a new development finance institution, the US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) to compete with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB), headquartered in Beijing, China, which substantially finances BRI.
• Blue Dot Network: And the US and Australia have joined Japan in announcing plans through the Blue Dot Network for an alternative to BRI.
  • Led by the USIDFC, the Blue Dot network was jointly launched by the US, Japan (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) and Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in November 2019 on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Thailand.
  • It is meant to be a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to bring governments, the private sector and civil society together to promote “high quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development”.
  • However, there is no financing component involved in this.

Conclusion

• In this era of global politics when Chinese belligerence is heightening alongside its expanding global footprint, countries around the globe, especially India must recognize how this Chinese initiative is aiming to reshape the global order in fundamental ways. Such knowledge and understanding would serve as an anchor for an appropriate response to China.

The Indian Express Link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/us-b3w-projects-latin-america-china-belt-and-road-7537360/

Question: Giving implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, list out various regional initiatives to counter it.