Entries tagged "Belt & Road"

  • Victoria's Wrong Turn on China's Belt and Road | Nov. 20, 2020, 1:41 p.m.

    The Australian state of Victoria, which signed a Belt and Road MoU in 2018, has little to show from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy vision.

  • China’s Footprint in Southeast Europe | Nov. 13, 2020, 10:21 a.m.

    This series explores the dynamics of China's engagement across Southeast Europe through the BRI, including the 17+1 cooperation platform, the role of political elites and state media, Chinese outbound tourism to the region, Chinese political values and governance, and the role of Covid-19.

  • Broken Tooth’s BRI Bluff | Nov. 9, 2020, 9:21 a.m.

    A notorious ex-gangster from China is launching an $18 billion economic development zone in Myawaddy, Myanmar under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But experts say the project's plans are centered on illegal gambling. If true, this could spell trouble for Beijing.

  • Experts Muse U.S. CPEC Stance | Nov. 9, 2020, 9:15 a.m.

    The announcement of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has led to speculation about the new administration's approach to the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative that has previously been criticized by the U.S. for a lack of transparency.

  • BRI Debt Fuels Default Fears in Africa | Nov. 5, 2020, 10:45 a.m.

    The debt owed to China by African countries has risen dramatically under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, including in Zambia, which is poised to default on a $42.5 million interest payment, fueling criticisms that China has been slow to offer debt relief amid the pandemic.

  • Thailand, China Sign $1.6B Rail Deal | Oct. 30, 2020, 9:19 a.m.

    Thailand and China have signed a $1.6B deal to construct a segment of a high-speed rail, a component of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), meant to connect Bangkok with northeastern Thailand.

  • Japan’s Leadership Role in a Multipolar Indo-Pacific | Oct. 28, 2020, 10:52 a.m.

    This paper discusses the geopolitical dynamics of the Indo-Pacific, including the impacts of Covid-19, and emerging foreign policy initiatives, and offers recommendations for how Japan can solidify a comprehensive leadership role in this critical, multipolar region.

  • Apply Now: Belt, Road, and Beyond | Oct. 27, 2020, 11:01 a.m.

    In March 2021, CSIS will host a Master’s-level introduction to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The course will explain what the BRI is, what it is not, and how it is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground.

  • Pakistan: $6.8B BRI Rail Slows | Oct. 27, 2020, 9:29 a.m.

    China is reluctant to finance the Main Line 1 railway, the largest Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in Pakistan, at the 1 percent interest rate requested by Islamabad, which will likely delay the project's anticipated January 2021 start date, Nikkei reports.

  • Xi Promotes BRI for Global Cooperation | Oct. 14, 2020, 9:27 a.m.

    During a recent speech commemorating China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Chinese president Xi Jinping promoted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a pathway to global collaboration and named the city as a driver of China's innovation and technology ambitions.

  • Pakistan: Islands Spark BRI Fears | Oct. 13, 2020, 9:44 a.m.

    Pakistan's federal government has initiated land reclamation and urbanization efforts on the islands of Bundal and Bhuddo, which were previously under the administration of Sindh province, sparking concern among local politicians that the islands could be sold to China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

  • Minsk Turns to China Amid Instability | Oct. 9, 2020, 9:35 a.m.

    Widespread protests against the election of President Alexander Lukashenko and rising economic instability in Belruas have led to increased pressure on the government from both the West and traditional ally Russia, leading Minsk to turn increasingly toward China, a growing source of infrastructure investment in recent years, for economic support, Nikkei reports.

  • U.S. Must Turn China's Environmental Destruction to Its Advantage | Oct. 8, 2020, 9:29 a.m.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the world in late September by announcing that China would become carbon neutral by 2060. But this promise will amount to little if Xi's signature foreign policy vision, the Belt and Road Initiative, continues exporting China's environmental challenges globally. China's poor environmental record abroad presents a strategic opportunity for the U.S., if only Washington would seize it.

  • China Ties Cool in Eastern Europe | Oct. 2, 2020, 9:05 a.m.

    Ties with China appearing to be cooling among Eastern European countries, underscored by high-level visits to Taiwan, and increasing security cooperation with the U.S. on 5G, and spurred by a growing number of failed Belt and Road infrastructure projects, slowing Chinese investment, and growing national security concerns over China's expanding espionage operations, Nikkei reports.

  • Book Launch: The Emperor’s New Road | Oct. 1, 2020, 10:52 a.m.

    On September 29, CSIS hosted an online discussion of Jonathan Hillman's new book on China's Belt and Road Initiative, The Emperor’s New Road: China and the Project of the Century, moderated by Axios China reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian.

  • Gwadar: China's Potential Strategic Strongpoint in Pakistan | Sept. 28, 2020, 11:21 a.m.

    This case study of Gwadar port, part of a series on China’s Indian Ocean “strategic strongpoints” (战略支点), reveals that while Gwadar may one day serve as a major platform for China’s economic, diplomatic, and military interactions across the region, as of August 2020 it remains largely underdeveloped and underutilized.

  • Becoming a Chinese Client State | Sept. 24, 2020, 12:53 p.m.

    This report examines Chinese economic activities in Serbia to shed light on China’s political and economic objectives, its mechanisms for influence, and the implications of its activities, including a second wave of digital infrastructure projects.

  • Don’t Let China Greenwash Its Belt and Road | Sept. 9, 2020, 10:08 a.m.

    Xi Jinping's promise of carbon neutrality by 2060 will amount to little if his signature foreign policy vision, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), continues exporting China’s environmental challenges globally. China’s poor environmental record abroad presents a strategic opportunity for the United States, if only Washington would seize it.

  • Pakistan: Taliban Threatens CPEC | Sept. 9, 2020, 8:26 a.m.

    Pakistan's leading Taliban group has announced the reunification of several breakaway factions which experts believe could pose risks to Chinese-funded projects along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, including the Karakoram Highway Phase II, the Suki Kinari Hydropower Station, and the Havelian Dry Port, Nikkei reports.

  • Pakistanis Protest Chinese Fishing | Sept. 1, 2020, 8:19 a.m.

    Fishermen at Pakistan's Gwadar Port, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, are protesting an incoming fleet of 20 Chinese deep-sea trawlers off Sindh and Baluchistan provinces which they fear could further deplete Pakistan's dwindling marine resources, Nikkei reports.

  • U.S. Sanctions BRI Construction SOE | Aug. 28, 2020, 9:14 a.m.

    The U.S. has blacklisted one of the Belt and Road Initiative's largest construction companies, the Chinese state-owned enterprise China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC), and its subsidiaries for its role in building artificial islands in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Nikkei reports.

  • China Pushes CPEC via Afghanistan | Aug. 25, 2020, 8:18 a.m.

    Pakistan has reopened two closed border crossings and opened three new ones with Afghanistan at China's urging in a move that experts believe is intended to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan, Nikkei reports.

  • Pakistan: China Re-ups $2B Coal Plant | Aug. 20, 2020, 11:01 a.m.

    Beijing has relaunched a $2 billion coal mine and power project in southeastern Pakistan amid rising tensions with Austalia, China's largest source of imported coal.

  • Greece Courts Chinese Investment | Aug. 18, 2020, 9:20 a.m.

    Amid economic contraction, Greece’s government has increasingly turned to China for investment in power transmission, an underwater link, and the seaport of Piraeus, Nikkei reports.

  • Turkish Sovereign Wealth Fund Courts BRI | Aug. 13, 2020, 9:09 a.m.

    Turkey's Sovereign Wealth Fund is looking to China for investment in a number of major infrastructure projects and to tie Turkey into China's Belt and Road Initiative much more deeply, Nikkei reports.

  • Chinese Investment Threatens Bangladesh-India Relations | Aug. 12, 2020, 9:05 a.m.

    Bangladesh has described their relationship with China and the Belt & Road Initiative as solely "economic diplomacy," but China's expanding trade and investment in the country also threatens to undermine Indian influence, Nikkei reports.

  • Pakistan Approves $6.8B CPEC Rail | Aug. 6, 2020, 9:15 a.m.

    Pakistan's top economic body on Wednesday authorized a $6.8 billion railway upgrade, its costliest project to date as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Nikkei reports.

  • Belarus BRI Support Declines | July 17, 2020, 9:52 a.m.

    Public support for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is declining in Belarus amid protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been a proponent of the Chinese initiative, Nikkei reports.

  • China and Russia: Economic Unequals | July 15, 2020, 12:02 p.m.

    Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are attempting to put economics at the center of their strategic partnership, but a closer look at four dimensions of China-Russia connectivity reveals a partnership of unequals that will become even more lopsided in the future.

  • Hidden Harbors: China’s State-backed Shipping Industry | July 8, 2020, 3:05 p.m.

    China's state-owned and private companies are increasingly dominant across the global maritime supply chain, aided by an opaque system of formal and informal government support that is unrivaled in both its scale and scope.

  • China Funds Pakistan Hydropower Deal | July 6, 2020, 8:05 a.m.

    China, Pakistan and the Kohala Hydropower Company, a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation, have signed a $2.4 billion deal for the construction of a 1,124-megawatt hydropower plant in disputed Kashmir, Nikkei reports.

  • Attack on BRI in Pakistan | June 29, 2020, 9:02 a.m.

    Eight people were killed Monday when members of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which is openly opposed to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange following the recent acquisition of a 40 percent stake in the Exchange by Chinese investors, Nikkei reports.

  • China Completes Satellite Project | June 24, 2020, 9:05 a.m.

    China has completed its Beidou satellite system, its answer to the U.S.-based Global Positioning System (GPS), advancing Beijing's effort to cut its reliance on U.S. technology, Nikkei reports. China has exported Beidou products to 120 countries as part of it's Belt and Road Initiative.

  • Pakistan Cuts BRI Budget | June 19, 2020, 10:02 a.m.

    Pakistan has reduced its annual allocation to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from $241 million last year to $159 million in the budget running to June 2021, Nikkei reports.

  • Coronavirus stalls Belt and Road Projects | June 17, 2020, 7:01 a.m.

    A new report released by analytics company Refinitiv on Tuesday showed a 15.6% drop in the number of new BRI projects announced in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2019. The value of the projects slid from $386.08 billion to $137.43 billion over the same period, Nikkei reports.

  • Nepal Weighs U.S., China Aid | June 11, 2020, 7:09 a.m.

    U.S. promises of aid to Nepal have some political officials there worried that such aid could damage the country's blossoming relations with China and its Belt and Road Initiative, Nikkei reports.

  • Indonesia Brings Japan into Rail Project | June 8, 2020, 6:56 a.m.

    The Indonesian government has begun discussions on possible Japanese participation in a planned high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung, hoping to spur progress on the delayed Chinese-led project as costs mount, Nikkei reports.

  • Laos Struggles with China Debt | June 1, 2020, 6:54 a.m.

    The coronavirus pandemic could have serious impacts on economic growth in Laos, which is already struggling due to significant debt taken on to finance a large range of Chinese-backed infrastructure projects, Nikkei reports.

  • China-Indonesia Rail Faces Delay | May 29, 2020, 6:48 a.m.

    Indonesia plans to extend the tracks of the $6 billion Jakarta-Bandung rail project being built with China to ensure economic viability, but is facing a one year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nikkei reports.

  • Standoff at India-China Border | May 28, 2020, 9:09 a.m.

    Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a military confrontation at the Himalayan border, triggered in part by India's construction of roads and airstrips in response to China's Belt and Road Initiative, Nikkei reports.

  • View All Analysis | May 26, 2020, 10:21 a.m.

    Browse our analysis section for news and articles on topics such as China's Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR), the world's evolving digital infrastructure competition, and the stakes for U.S. policy.

  • Trading for Influence? | May 26, 2020, 9:17 a.m.

    While much attention has been focused on economic coercion, inducements have also played an important role in China’s toolkit. Ramping up U.S. efforts at bilateral and multilateral economic engagement would provide more credible or appealing alternatives.

  • China to Build Dam in Kashmir | May 26, 2020, 9:06 a.m.

    Pakistan has entered a joint contract venture with China to build a dam in Kashmir, increasing the country's financial ties to China and igniting new tensions with India, Nikkei reports.

  • Pakistan Bans Party Critical of CPEC | May 21, 2020, 9:05 a.m.

    Pakistan has outlawed a political party critical of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative, signaling the country's strong ties to Beijing, Nikkei reports.

  • Sri Lanka Hikes China Debt | May 15, 2020, 9:10 a.m.

    Sri Lanka's decision to borrow a further $80 million from Beijing to finance road improvements has drawn criticism due to the country's already high levels of debt to China, Nikkei reports.

  • BRI Rails Get a Boost | May 11, 2020, 9:28 a.m.

    Supply chain disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic have increased traffic along China-Europe rail lines, which Beijing has promoted heavily under its Belt and Road Initiative, Nikkei reports.

  • SE Asia BRI Projects Stalled | May 5, 2020, 8:49 a.m.

    China's Belt and Road infrastructure projects in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia have come to a standstill as countries prioritize fighting COVID-19, Nikkei reports.

  • BRI in Africa at Risk | May 1, 2020, 9:19 a.m.

    Plunging oil, copper, and mineral prices could threaten China's $200 billion in investments and loans in Africa, Nikkei reports.

  • BRI Debt Concerns Rise in Djibouti | April 27, 2020, 9:48 a.m.

    Djibouti has become a linchpin in China's Belt and Road Initiative, but the U.S. is concerned that the financial toll of Covid-19 may increase Djibouti's risk of falling into a "debt trap" created by high-levels of Chinese lending, Nikkei reports.

  • China’s “Hub-and-Spoke” Strategy in the Balkans | April 27, 2020, 6:42 a.m.

    This report assesses Chinese economic activities in the Western Balkans based on open-source data collected by CSIS and identifies key trends and China’s main avenues of influence.