What will happen to BRI?

Consultations on China's ambitions, India's role and China's policy in the context of the recent Belt and Road Conference.

Photo (https://unsplash.com/photos/E13mcj-2TLE)

An international conference was held in China from April 25 to April 27, 2019 to review China's ambitious Belt and Road project. This is the second year of the conference, known as the Belt and Road Forum (BRF). More than 150 countries participated in this year's BRF conference. This argues that the demand for the Belt and Road Initiative has not diminished. Since the announcement of the project in 2012, BRI has been scrutinized internationally and the project has also garnered a lot of negative publicity.

The picture is also being painted about China that it wants to dominate the world by using the BRI platform and using its resources. The latest example of this is Hambantota. Leasing the port of Hambantota to Chinese companies is tantamount to inspiring Beijing's policy of creating a debt trap. India also boycotted the second BRF conference. India also insisted on its position on the CPEC project between China and Pakistan. However, the number of countries participating in BRI is also increasing, which cannot be ignored. 

In the words of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, "China and the countries participating in the BRI trade have exceeded US 6 trillion. China has invested US 80 billion in these countries." 82 co-operative parks have been set up on the sea, which has created 300,000 jobs for the locals in the country. Even after so much success and the project has reached so many countries, the skepticism about BRI has not gone away.

Given the international perception of BRIs over the past six years, China has been making changes to its statement, showing that it is keen to make improvements. After the second BRF conference, Ms. Deborah Brotigam, an expert on China-Africa relations at Johns Hopkins University, stated, “China's BRI policy is not a debt trap. This is the globalization of the Chinese haircut. " Such an assessment and in-depth analysis of BRI is unlikely. So it's no surprise that Xi Jinping used the BRF conference to gently impose his new views.

Against this background, some of the new issues discussed at the BRF conference were completely different. In his speech, Xi Jinping underlined that Beijing has learned a lot in the first five years of BRI. In his speech, Xi said, "We need to be motivated by multilateralism, seek cooperation through dialogue and keep all participating countries motivated." He also stressed the need to uplift the living standards of all citizens coming under the BRI belt and develop a model of clean and green development.

It is clear from this statement that Beijing is eager to change its mind about the BRI. It is also being countered that China wants to make the BRI project look more comprehensive and does not pay much attention to the environmental issues of the country where the BRI project is being set up. The BRI project in Myanmar is the most criticized. Such assurances need to be further treated before consent and financial grants can be given to new BRI projects.

Adding to the controversy is the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. The US-China trade war has also played a key role in this regard. So it is no surprise that Xi Jinping mentioned foreign investment law in his speech. Commenting on the issue of import of agricultural products and manufactured goods and services, he also said that there was a need to stop the forced transfer of technology. He also stressed the need to balance trade. China sees the FIL as a link to peace in the US context. The pace of economic growth in China and the rate of per capita income are also low. So China has to agree to certain terms of trade. But the US was also far from the second BRI forum.

An important feature of the second BRI conference is that this time China did not announce any financial commitments or financial investments. Following Xi's speech, he used the platform to respond to criticism of China's policies. The BRI project has been consistently opposed even from actual China. Chinese experts criticizing the BRI project say the government should focus on domestic economic development, rather than investing in countries that cannot repay loans. With declining per capita income, China is increasingly demanding domestic investment.

While there is nothing wrong with claiming that BRI is a globalization with Chinese characteristics, the fact that no globalization takes place in the same way cannot be ignored. If China wants the BRI project to be successful, it needs to build a new model of globalization, taking into account the characteristics of other cooperatives and their demands. A monopoly cannot carry out its own opinions and agenda.

Beijing should also address the concerns of India and the United States and their demands. Although the BRI project is becoming widespread, it is facing opposition from participating countries and even from actual China. The project is set to become a major obstacle in Asia, which is not even mentioned by Jingping, as there is opposition from the West and New Delhi.