China will expand its reach in the Pacific Islands

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Competition ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Subject Strategic competition in the Pacific Islands. Significance The United States has extended its concept of an ‘Indo-Pacific region’ to include the Pacific Islands, while Beijing includes them in the Belt and Road Initiative. Strategic competition has arrived in a region long overlooked. Impacts Regional states will use China-Taiwan and China-US competition to their own advantage. New Zealand and Australia are trying to reinvent their role through assistance to combat natural disasters related to climate change. Japan will play a role in disaster relief too, and is the most likely alternative to China on infrastructure projects. India has less presence in the region but may have influence with some Pacific Islands with ethnic South Asian populations.

Indo-Pacific Legal Infrastructure: A China Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 374-378
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Erie
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Region I ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
Legal Infrastructure

The Indo-Pacific, given its economic and geopolitical significance as exemplified by the growing multilateralism in the region, is an incubatory space for innovative legal infrastructure. Against the backdrop of growing tension between the United States and China in the region, I emphasize China's expanding footprint through the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) and its capacity to shape institutions, practices, and norms of international economic law. I begin by providing context and then suggest six ways in which the BRI may offer a novel approach to international economic law, with particular salience for the Indo-Pacific region.

Western pushback against China will increase

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive View ◽  
Downward Spiral ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Public Views ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance Senior US officials see Communist-led China as the foremost threat to the United States. The Trump administration’s campaign against it spans the spectrum of government actions: criticism; tariffs; sanctions; regulatory crackdowns; military intimidation; support for Taiwan; and restrictions on imports, exports, investment and visas. Impacts Beijing will have little success in driving a wedge between Washington and its major Western allies. The West is unlikely to produce a convincing alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Negative public views of China incentivise China-bashing by politicians, which in turn feeds negative public opinion in a downward spiral. Beijing will persist in its efforts to encourage a more positive view of China among Western publics.

US-China competition will create Middle East dilemmas

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Sectors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance The Middle East has long been polarised between US allies and enemies, while Beijing has historically retained a comparatively smaller footprint and rejected taking sides in regional political and security disputes. However, its economic interests are increasing. Impacts The United States will maintain a comparative advantage from its long history of political, military and economic cooperation in the region. Beijing could leverage its control over large industrial conglomerates in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure and biotechnology. The Belt and Road Initiative will be an attractive project for all Middle Eastern countries, maximising their geographical advantages.

New Zealand’s ties reset with Pacific will take time

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
World Population ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Island Nations

Subject New Zealand's foreign policy towards the Pacific region. Significance New Zealand is 'resetting' its relationship and engagement with South Pacific island nations, which includes increasing its financial contribution to the islands’ development and widening interaction, potentially to a genuinely two-way engagement in place of past ‘paternalistic benevolence’. This is important for Pacific security and prosperity. Impacts China is expanding its influence in the Pacific Islands; frictions may rise between Beijing and Wellington. Beijing and Wellington will compete for influence via infrastructure, trade and aid projects, and naval presence. EU, US and Japanese interest in the Pacific will grow; the United Kingdom is already expanding its diplomatic presence. Rich Pacific marine resources including fish will be increasingly important as world population and food demand grow.

China-US ideological conflict will intensify

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Ideological Conflict ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
Chinese Public

Subject Ideological conflict between China and the United States. Significance A leaked report from China’s intelligence community warns leaders of growing international hostility over the COVID-19 pandemic that risks military conflict with the United States. It also accuses Washington of attempting to destabilise Communist Party rule by fomenting public opposition. Impacts The soft touch necessary for Beijing to win hearts and minds abroad will be undermined by the nationalist messages popular at home. US attempts to discredit the Party will not gain much traction with the Chinese public, who generally assume ulterior motives. Chinese propaganda about Western decline may resonate in developing countries, whose cooperation matters for the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Pacific Alliance and the Belt and Road Initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan-Felipe Toro-Fernandez ◽  
Jaime Tijmes-Ihl
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
American States ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Latin American Economic ◽  
The Belt And Road

PurposeThrough the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has built bilateral relations with Latin American states. The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for using the Pacific Alliance (PA) as a negotiating frame as regards the Belt and Road Initiative.Design/methodology/approachWe use a descriptive and analytical methodology to recapitulate and analyze the factual and normative background of Latin American economic integration during the last three decades, a process that so far has culminated in the Pacific Alliance (PA) and an emphasis on the Asia–Pacific region.FindingsWe contend that the PA has been a learning process in terms of economic cooperation. In addition, it is a Latin American economic integration project that emphasizes its focus on the Asia–Pacific region. Considering the nature of BRI projects, as well as Latin American states’ and China’s interests, we contend that it would be beneficial if Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, the members of the PA, and China channeled their BRI relations through the PA. Thus, the PA should be China’s negotiating partner.Originality/valueSo far, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Latin America has been built upon bilateral relations. This article explores the possibility of developing the BRI through the Pacific Alliance (PA).

scholarly journals A road to island sovereignty and empowerment? Fiji’s aims within the Belt and Road Initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien Rodd
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Contested Space ◽  
Island States ◽  
Global Engagement ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
The Belt And Road

Though peripheral to China’s policies of global engagement, the small island developing states (SIDS) of the Pacific are becoming an annex to Beijing’s project for a 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Traditionally part of the West’s exclusive sphere of influence, the Pacific Islands have become a contested space, seeking to benefit from the rivalries between the major powers. Among the foremost of these small island states is Fiji, whose Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has enhanced Fiji’s engagement with China. His government has sought to raise Fiji’s profile on the international stage, seeking to be a regional power among the small states of the Pacific, and to carry the latter’s voice and interests to global fora. Though on significantly different scales, both China and Fiji have embraced a form of ‘go global’ ambition. This paper examines the concrete and theoretical aspects of China’s involvement in Fiji within the BRI and what Beijing and Suva each hope to achieve from this partnership. It will consider potential long-term trends, and whether this initiative may be empowering for Fiji and will discuss whether a SIDS can repurpose to its own advantage a much more powerful state’s initiative, despite the latter’s relative lack of interest in remote small island countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative: Motivations, financing, expansion and challenges of Xi’s ever-expanding strategy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex He
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Investment Model ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
International Economic Cooperation ◽  
Investment And Financing ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

The paper examines the motivations, financing, expansion and challenges of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI was initially designed to address China’s overcapacity and promote economic growth in both China and in countries along the “Belt” and “Road” through infrastructure investment and industrial capacity cooperation. It took into account China’s strategic transition in its opening-up policy and foreign policy to pay more attention to the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and Central and West Asia when facing greater strategic pressure from the United States in East Asia and the Pacific region. More themes have been added to the initiative’s original framework since its inception in 2013, including the vision of the BRI as China’s major solution to improve international economic cooperation and practice to build a “community of shared future for mankind”, and the idea of the Green Silk Road and the Digital Silk Road. Chinese state-owned enterprises and policy and commercial banks have dominated investment and financing for BRI projects, which explains the root of the problems and risks facing the initiative, such as unsustainable debt, non-transparency, corruption and low economic efficiency. Measures taken by China to tackle these problems, for example, mitigating the debt distress and improving debt sustainability, are unlikely to make a big difference anytime soon due to the tenacity of China’s long-held state-driven investment model.

scholarly journals CPEC: A Game Changer in the Balance of Power in South Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 595-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Khan ◽  
Guo Changgang ◽  
Riaz Ahmad ◽  
Fang Wenhao
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Strategic Competition ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Funding Gap ◽  
Game Changer

Intended as a pilot flagship project under the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has received relatively positive responses from actors in and outside the South Asian region. Islamabad, New Delhi, and Washington have offered their support to the project to varying degrees, because the financial commitments made by Beijing can help narrow the substantial funding gap for regional infrastructure connectivity. Nevertheless, enduring animosity and mistrust between India and Pakistan and growing strategic competition between Beijing and Washington present the biggest challenges to the project’s sustainable progress. Although the unfolding U.S.-China competition has not tangibly affected regional cooperation, as Washington’s enthusiasm for and investment in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC) remain low compared with China’s down payment, the potential change in the balance of power in South Asia has triggered increasing concern from and collaboration between the United States and India. By highlighting the positive-sum logic of improved infrastructure interconnection as well as greater economic integration, and contributing to a more stable geopolitical environment in South Asia, Beijing can help alleviate the longstanding enmity between India and Pakistan and assuage Washington’s and New Delhi’s skepticism about its strategic intentions.

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