I’m guessing few of you know much about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which China launched in 2013. We’re ridiculously focused on the latest Presidential tweets, while the rest of the world marches forward.
The BRI is the largest economic development project in history, involving hundreds of projects in 65 countries, and it will change the world…at least for our grandchildren. It involves at least seven “corridors,” both land and sea, which will connect China with Europe, Russia, Africa, India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. It includes roads, railways, pipelines, communication networks, ports, airports, satellites, and much more (China already has a rail link all the way to Spain).
Massive projects will help build the infrastructure of countries along these trade routes–electrical grids, roads, and a whole lot of green energy (windmills, solar farms, dams). As those economies develop, China will sign trade agreements, and Chinese companies will develop new markets and shut us out. China is also buying control of ports throughout the world.
China is investing a trillion dollars in the BRI–seven times the size of the Marshall Plan. It will help integrate China’s economy with the economies of all of these other countries, bringing both goodwill and influence to China.
China is even bringing Latin America into the Belt and Road Initiative, recognizing that the Trump administration is alienating Hispanic countries (who clearly heard the “s***hole countries” comment). In January, China’s foreign minister met in Chile with his counterparts from 31 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. China’s goal, obviously, is to lessen US influence in our hemisphere and tie Latin American markets more closely to China (and insert Chinese values).
The United States won’t be part of the Belt and Road Initiative. We’ve been pulling out of international agreements, like the Paris Climate Accord and TPP, and lessening our involvement in international organizations, like UNESCO and the World Bank. China sees the Trump presidency as a strategic opportunity for increasing its influence. While we try to build a wall and otherwise keep people out, China is building pathways throughout the world. China is eagerly assuming the leadership that America is relinquishing (with big money to back it up). More and more, China is calling the shots on the regulations and systems that will govern the world, because we’ve chosen not to be involved in those meetings.
I encourage you to read up on the Belt and Road Initiative. Do a Google search–there’s a huge amount of information about the BRI. It’s important–maybe not for us, but for our descendants and America’s future.
