{"id":47289,"date":"2019-05-03T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T20:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=47289"},"modified":"2019-05-02T16:58:57","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T06:58:57","slug":"belt-and-road-forums-are-lovely-when-friends-get-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/belt-and-road-forums-are-lovely-when-friends-get-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Belt and Road forums are \u2018lovely when friends get together\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The second Belt and Road Forum<\/a>, hosted by China\u2019s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, attracted 37 world leaders and delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organisations<\/a>. There were also some conspicuous absences, with no high-level representatives from the US, Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand, though some of them sent officials. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, who was in North America at the time, sent a special envoy.<\/p>\n

The massive scale of this diplomatic gathering reflected the extent to which the BRI is viewed with both hope and suspicion around the world. For developing economies, it represents an unparalleled opportunity to acquire something they really need\u2014infrastructure. There\u2019s wariness, especially among China\u2019s neighbours that have worked with Beijing before, about the risks of being overstretched by high-interest-rate loans, questionable investment returns, and sometimes low safety standards. But the lack of other opportunities on such a scale\u2014perceived or real\u2014is making them brave it out.<\/p>\n

Being invited to participate in the forum\u2014or not\u2014has diplomatic significance, but a country\u2019s decision to attend doesn\u2019t mean that it completely acquiesces to Beijing\u2019s vision of the BRI. Most participants see the BRI as a set of offers from Beijing and its partners that can be negotiated and tailored in each case. Participation in the summit and the BRI gives them a sense of having options.<\/p>\n

Xi welcomed his guests<\/a> with a Chinese proverb: \u2018Spring and autumn are lovely seasons in which friends get together to climb up mountains and write poems.\u2019<\/p>\n

The summit came as global concerns mounted over the nature and implications of this grand Chinese plan. For Xi it was an opportunity to demonstrate his responsiveness to recent criticism of the BRI and the challenges BRI signatories have faced. His promises included a debt-sustainability framework, an emphasis on green development, wider access to Chinese markets and a step-up of intellectual-property protections.<\/p>\n

Xi declared<\/a> that the BRI would make the world a more beautiful place with initiatives such as the Sustainable Cities Alliance and International Green Development Coalition, green investment principles for BRI projects, and a commitment to sustainable development. The host painted a rosy picture of the benefits that would flow from realising a community of common destiny.<\/p>\n

But Xi didn\u2019t have to do all the talking; many other leaders stood up in support of the BRI. They ranged from good friends of China, such as Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin, to global voices of multilateralism like United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde.<\/p>\n

Pakistan was one of the earliest supporters of the BRI and it\u2019s no surprise that its prime minister strongly endorsed<\/a> Xi\u2019s efforts. He said that in a world of geopolitical uncertainty, rising inequality and barriers to trade, the BRI offers a model of collaboration, partnership, connectivity and shared prosperity. Khan added, \u2018We chose hope over despair, cooperation over confrontation\u2019\u2014a clear indicator of where he\u2019d stand if he were pushed to make a choice.<\/p>\n

Even higher praise came from Guterres, who noted<\/a> China\u2019s \u2018central role as a pillar of international cooperation and multilateralism\u2019 and added that the gathering reflected that commitment in turbulent times.<\/p>\n

Guterres praised the increasing investment that China is making in developing sources of renewable energy\u2014up last year by 25% to US$125 billion\u2014and for its support for global action on climate change. He also said the BRI had assumed \u2018remarkable and urgent importance\u2019 by offering \u2018a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the creation of an equitable, prosperous world for all\u2019.<\/p>\n

Guterres said the world would benefit from the BRI and highlighted its potential to further the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals. \u2018Let\u2019s work together to restore trust\u2019, he said, perhaps alluding to efforts to discredit the BRI.<\/p>\n

The summit provided an opportunity for everyone to learn more about China\u2019s intentions for the BRI and even for sceptics like Malaysia\u2019s Prime Minister\u00a0Mahathir Mohamad\u00a0to be converted. Previously he\u2019d spoken of the BRI as an example of China\u2019s \u2018unequal treaties<\/a>\u2018 and a \u2018new version of colonialism<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

At the summit Mahathir said he was fully supportive of the BRI. He explained<\/a> that he now understood it better and believed that the BRI was \u2018not a domination plan by China\u2019 but a policy developed by all the countries involved. He also welcomed Beijing\u2019s plans to set up a one-stop centre in BRI member countries to facilitate external investments.<\/p>\n

In the Philippines, just before the summit, resentment about China\u2019s violations of territorial waters in the West Philippines Sea triggered protests. President Rodrigo Duterte, who is gearing up for mid-term elections, used harsh language<\/a> towards Beijing and even referred to the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling<\/a>, a topic that he\u2019s previously said was \u2018better left untouched<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

But in his meeting with Xi last week on the sidelines of the forum, Duterte\u2019s tone appeared to soften as he reportedly secured<\/a> US$12 billion<\/a> worth of BRI projects that are predicted to generate some 21,000 jobs and further Chinese support for his anti-drug campaign.<\/p>\n

Nine heads of ASEAN member states were present. Indonesia\u2019s President Joko Widodo, who had just emerged from a campaign for re-election, sent Deputy President Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s PM Lee Hsien Loong, who was not invited<\/a> to the first summit because of tensions with Beijing, was there this time and took advantage of the occasion to engage in a successful sideline dialogue with Vietnam\u2019s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc\u2014yet another opportunity beyond the many ASEAN-centric meetings.<\/p>\n

The scale and structure of the summit facilitated numerous other talks on the sidelines, highlighting the vast potential for delegates to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with other attendees, an exercise in global consultation with Chinese characteristics.<\/p>\n

Maybe enthusiasm for the event relegated caution to the background for the time being, but no alarm was raised about challenges to ASEAN\u2019s centrality in this situation.<\/p>\n

Summits are about diplomacy and power displays; by those measures, US$64 billion in deals and 283 \u2018pragmatic outcomes\u2019<\/a> would suggest that this one worked well. Beijing achieved what it wanted\u2014praise and a vote of confidence from many world leaders. How long those good feelings can be sustained depends on the realisation of those grand promises. Sometimes \u2018the mountains are low and the expectations high\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The second Belt and Road Forum, hosted by China\u2019s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, attracted 37 world leaders and delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organisations. There were also some conspicuous absences, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":755,"featured_media":47294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1920,52,294,204],"class_list":["post-47289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-belt-and-road-initiative","tag-china","tag-diplomacy","tag-xi-jinping"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelt and Road forums are \u2018lovely when friends get together\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/belt-and-road-forums-are-lovely-when-friends-get-together\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belt and Road forums are \u2018lovely when friends get together\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The second Belt and Road Forum, hosted by China\u2019s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, attracted 37 world leaders and delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organisations. 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