The Era of the Dragon

Author(s):  
Maria João Tomás

The upcoming decades are expected to be marked by the rise and consolidation of the People's Republic of China, PRC, as the world's first economy, dethroning the U.S. and altering global economic geopolitics. The Dragon Age will mark the 21st century, with all the consequences that can come from it. This chapter analyzes the changes that are already underway and that prepare China to be the world's great economy. The departure point will be the examination of China's economic situation. Following, the authors move on to analyzing the Belt and Road Investment, the Chinese mega investment that aims to connect China to Europe inspired by the ancient Silk Road, making a geoeconomic analysis of the main world markets and how China has long prepared this economic rise and implicates a political and military ascension statement.

Napredak ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-102
Author(s):  
Žarko Obradović

The Chinese state has existed for more than five thousand years and in the history of human society it has always presented its own specific civilizational attainment, which exerted a considerable influence on the Asian region. In the years since its creation on October 1, 1949, and especially in the last decade, New China has stepped out beyond the region of Asia onto the global scene. With its economic power and international development projects (amongst which the Belt and Road projects stands out), China has become a leader of development and the promoter of the idea of international cooperation in the interests of peace and security in the world and the protection of the future of mankind. This paper will attempt to delineate the elements of the development of the People's Republic of China in the 21st century, placing a special focus on the realization of the Belt and Road initiative and the results of the struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which have made China an essential factor in the power relations between great global forces and the resultant change of attitude of the United States of America and the European Union towards China. Namely, China has always been a large country in terms of the size of its territory and population, but it is in the 21st century that the PR of China has become a strong state with the status of a global power. Such results in the organization of society and the state, the promotion of new development ideas and the achievement of set goals, would not have been possible without the Communist Party of China, as the main ideological, integrative and organizational factor within Chinese society. In its activities, the Chinese state sublimates the experiences of China's past with an understanding of the present moment in the international community and the need of Chinese citizens to improve the quality of life and to ensure stable development of the country. The United States and the European Union are taking various measures to oppose the strengthening of the People's Republic of China. These include looking after their interests and preserving their position in the international community, while simultaneously trying, if possible, to avoid jeopardizing their economic cooperation with China.


2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 401-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sabil Farooq ◽  
Tongkai Yuan ◽  
Jiangang Zhu ◽  
Nazia Feroze

China remains Africa’s largest financier of infrastructure, and the Belt and Road Forum held in May 2017 estimated pledge of funds of about US$40 billion. Reportedly, projects worth much more than the pledged funds are in the planning or have been underway, making the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” the biggest development initiative in history. China and Africa need each other in development, and the Asian giant continues to make inroads into Africa, home to minerals, oil, and other resources that help feed China’s phenomenal economic growth. This article intends to discuss the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR)” under the BRI and its socioeconomic and cultural impact on China-Africa relations, with an emphasis on China’s relationship with Kenya, a founding member of the East Africa community (EAC) that has enjoyed lasting friendship with China. It is concluded that despite the generally positive impact of Chinese economic presence in Africa over the past decades, both China and African countries have much to do to consolidate their mutually beneficial relationship and to achieve the MSR’s target of common prosperity in the long run.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Lupano

The Belt and Road (BRI) Forum for International Cooperation, held in Beijing in May 2017, was the first event to gather official representatives from almost 60 countries in the name of China’s project to re-enliven the spirit of the ancient Silk Road. Before and during the Forum, music videos were released online, promoting the benefits that the BRI would bring to the many populations involved, reproducing keywords from the institutional discourse on the initiative. Institutionally-inspired music videos and cartoons have become growingly common in the Chinese cyberspace since 2013, with the aim to promote the CCP’s political message among younger citizens. Drawing on the analysis of the videos released in relation to the Belt and Road Forum, the contribution discusses the role of such products in the popularisation of the CCP’s political discourse towards national and international audiences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 01 (03) ◽  
pp. 1850015
Author(s):  
Zheng Yongnian ◽  
Zhang Chi

On March 28, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping detailed his vision for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (hereinafter referred to as the Belt and Road) when attending the Boao Forum for Asia. After this, China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, a sign that the Belt and Road Initiative promoted by China as a foreign cooperation platform entered its first year of implementation. This vision covers over half of the global population and involves more than 60 countries along the routes, the economic aggregates of which account for about one-third of the world. During 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang paid frequent visits to all continents in an effort to promote the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. At present, the Belt and Road Initiative has received positive responses from the countries along the routes, and a number of cooperation projects have been underway smoothly. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China is forming a grand diplomatic landscape with “double legs” (a new type of major power relations and the Belt and Road Initiative) and a “single circle” (peripheral diplomacy). The Belt and Road Initiative highlights the spirit of the age, characterized by “peace, mutual respect, openness, and inclusiveness”, and has major international significance in helping China break through the security dilemma among nations, shoulder the responsibilities of a great power, and build China’s soft power in the international arena.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-181
Author(s):  
Boris MANOV

The research is carried out through the prism of geopolitics and reveals the "logic" and the essence of „The Belt and Road Initiative“. It outlines its basic ideas and goals. The study justifies and proves the (hypo)thesis that despite the apparent "leadership" of the economic events, the political and geopolitical aspects (vectors) of the project are linked to the economy. The economy does not function on its own way, but is formulated, supported by policy and used for political purposes, i.e., the project in its deep essence is political. The political nature of „The Belt and Road Initiative“ is expressed in the following: it is an attempt to find in internal policy a mechanism to preserve the political power of the Communist Party and to continue the existence of the dominant political system - the totalitarian (one-party) political system in the PRC. The geopolitical task is to find the „place“ of modern China in the global world. The goal is to restore the central ("middle") location of China in the 21st century world. „The Silk Road“ is one of the directions for its realization and the means for its achievement are complex - the „most obvious“ are the actions in the economic sphere, but equally important are the military, diplomatic, cultural factors and impacts. In conclusion, it is argued that „The Belt and Road Initiative“ will be realized as an optimal, reasonable balancebetween the „desired“ and the „possible“ and will be specified in the adoption of the formula „Great Eurasia“, i.e., in the transformation of China into a regional (regional-global, global-regional) center, the „middle empire“ of the Eurasian super-continent, the largest and most powerful geopolitical and geo-economic power center in the future „multipolar“ or more likely „bipolar“ („West-Sea“ - „East-Еarth“) world from the middle and the end of the 21st century.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Yan Miao

Based on ancient Silk Road, China President Xi Jinping has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, which is related to the dietary culture closely. Dietary culture translation is a necessary way to disseminate culture, becoming more and more important. Proper translations will show foreigners profound cultural connotation about China dietary. The author will adopt the methods of literature review and comparative, and point out translation difficulties and strategies for the cultural communication and transmission in the paper. The paper is divided into four parts. Firstly, the author will introduce the Belt and Road Initiative and China dietary culture. Secondly, the author will point out its status and difficulties under the background of the Belt and Road Initiative. Thirdly, the author will put forward some translation strategies about Chinese dietetic culture. Finally, the author will summarize the passage and the limitations of paper.


Author(s):  
LI Zhifei ◽  
Zhang Chenchen

Abstract Culture is the soul of tourism and tourism is the carrier of culture. With the help of regional cooperation platforms and historical and cultural symbols of the ancient Silk Road, “The Silk Road Economic Belt” and “The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” will develop economic cooperation among countries along the belt and road, and jointly build a community of Shared interests, destiny and responsibility featuring political mutual trust, economic integration and cultural tolerance. In order to implement the “Belt and Road” initiative, promote international cooperation and meet the development needs of its own industries, it has important practical significance to carry out international tourism cooperation under the strategic background of “Belt and Road”, which enhances the in-depth exchange of cultures of various countries, broadens the service choice of international tourism, and learns from advanced service concepts. Following the “Belt and Road” strategy, as the pilot industry of connectivity tourism led to the development of international tourism cooperation, but is still in its infancy, the overall scale is still small, with a larger space for future development. At this stage, there are four problems and challenges in international tourism cooperation under the Belt and Road Strategy: the foundation of cooperation is not solid enough, cultural resources are not fully utilized, brand awareness is insufficient, and the degree of convenience needs to be improved. Therefore, to achieve a stable and sustainable development of tourism in the countries along the route through four paths:the development of permanent mechanism of international tourism cooperation, the creation of unique Silk Road cultural characteristics of tourism products and routes, the creation of tourism boutique projects and the cultivation of international brands, enhance infrastructure construction and tourist visa facilitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
智宏 温

In the exchanges between different countries, apart from enhancing political mutual trust and strengthening pragmatic cooperation, it is of great importance to forging humanistic exchange. With a long history of exchanges between China and all the countries in South-east Asia, the humanistic exchange between China and South-east Asia has been continuing since the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, the strategic position of humanistic exchange has been rapidly improved. By means of the case study of Confucius Institute, sister cities, and tourism cooperation, the author has found that humanistic exchange between China and South-east Asia has enjoyed a long history and embodied profound and extensive meaning. It is the ancient Maritime Silk Road that helped to form the exchanges between China and South-east Asia. In the meantime, it is the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road that has deepened this friendship. The successful experience of humanistic exchange and cooperation between China and South-east Asia has not only consolidated the China-ASEAN strategic partnership but also provided a conducive reference for people-to-people ties in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, it has added dynamics and confidence to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind which is propelled by China's humanistic diplomacy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Baoxia Xie ◽  
Xianlong Zhu ◽  
Adam Grydehøj

This paper analyses the ancient Maritime Silk Road through a relational island studies approach. Island ports and island cities represented key sites of water-facilitated transport and exchange in the ancient Indian Ocean and South China Sea. Building our analysis upon a historical overview of the ancient Maritime Silk Road from the perspective of China’s Guangdong Province and the city of Guangzhou, we envision a millennia-long ‘Silk Road Archipelago’ encompassing island cities and island territories stretching across East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa. Bearing in mind the complex movements of peoples, places, and processes involved, we conceptualise the ancient Maritime Silk Road as an uncentred network of archipelagic relation. This conceptualisation of the ancient Maritime Silk Road as a vast archipelago can have relevance for our understanding of China’s present-day promotion of a 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. We ultimately argue against forcing the Maritime Silk Road concept within a binary perspective of essentialised East-West conflict or hierarchical relations and instead argue for the value of a nuanced understanding of relationality.


Author(s):  
Suresh T. Gopalan

The  Belt and  Road initiative announced by China’s President Xi Jinping has introduced a novel economic model that seeks to shift the site and purpose of development outside China. The initiative proposes the construction of a series of transportation platforms along the ancient Silk Road that connected China with Central Asia, Europe and West Asia.  This outward thrust of investment and capital construction envisages significant reduction of distance and in spatial barriers between and China and the world that will form the road traversing different geographies of nations, territories and cultures. I call China’s Belt and  Road initiative a transnational development model as it aims to coordinate factors of economic circulation across different national spaces controlled by different governance models, legal norms and political contingencies. Centuries ago when the original trading route of the Chinese Silk Road was formed, this overland route was a contiguous territory where boundaries remained too fluid for any authorities to impose its will. But today the Silk Road is an imagined geography as this route is controlled by sovereign national territorial states having effective authority structures over each of these units. The initiative then requires China to entail a broad-based economic coordination with a diverse governance systems. My paper will explore how the transnational scope of the  Belt and  Road initiative come to negotiate diverse authority structures in particular national contexts.


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