Xi, Putin and others at the Belt and Road Forum
Beijing - On Sunday, May 14, at a major international forum in Beijing, China's leaders unveiled a vision for what they hope will be a new world order.
The Belt and Road Forum is China's response to Davos or the G20 Summit. This forum is dedicated to the Belt and Road Initiative, which is based on the image of the ancient trade Silk Road.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the forum, Chinese leader Xi Jinping stressed that the initiative is international in nature, refuting critics' claims that China will dominate the project.
“We hope to create a large family whose members will harmoniously coexist with each other,” Xi said, adding that any country can take part in this project.
Xi also announced that China will contribute an additional $ 14.5 billion to the Silk Road Fund, which supports projects under the initiative, and will provide $ 8.7 billion in aid to developing countries.
After Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the floor, who apparently decided to criticize the United States, which is not taking part in this initiative.
"Protectionism is becoming the norm," Putin warned, adding that "the ideas of openness and free trade are increasingly being rejected today, and often by those who have recently advocated them."
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The Belt and Road Initiative, which has been under way for four years, involves 68 countries and covers 40% of global GDP. China is trying to advance it to a position of global leadership, as the United States, under President Donald Trump, is leaning towards a more protectionist approach, removing the mantle of globalization.
The Sunday Forum is being held near Beijing Olympic Park, where the 2008 Olympic Games were held, as the city is now enjoying wonderful weather, which Chinese leaders have learned to create when the political events call for it. The roads around this place were closed, and the special services took all possible measures to ensure the safety of the guests.
Political pressure
On Sunday, the forum was attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who initiated the Belt and Road project, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, as well as leaders and high-ranking officials of several other countries.
They were joined by a small delegation from North Korea, despite rising tensions between Beijing and Pyongyang over the latter's nuclear program.
On the morning of Sunday, May 14, North Korea tested a ballistic missile, demonstrating how high tensions are in the region at the moment, and trying to divert attention from the Belt and Road Forum, which could be seen as a deliberate insult to C.
The leaders of the USA and European countries did not attend the forum. Although Washington sent US Special Assistant to the President, Matt Pottinger, to the forum in Beijing, elected officials and government ministers did not attend.
In its communiqué announcing a new trade deal with China and published on Thursday, May 11, the United States stressed that it “recognizes the importance of China's Belt and Road Initiative,” but Washington is not actively involved in this initiative. and related projects such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, led by China.
In an interview with CNN on Saturday, May 13, the bank's president, Jin Liqun, said the US could still be involved in China's projects, noting that "regardless of US membership … we can cooperate."
“The door is open, we will welcome any member,” he added.
While within China the Belt and Road Initiative is positioned as a project that can benefit the world and help millions out of poverty, in other countries the perception of this project can be called mixed.
Last week, Jörg Wuttke, the outgoing chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce for China, warned that the initiative is increasingly being used by Chinese companies that are trying to use it to avoid capital controls by diverting money outside the country. a pretext for international investment and partnerships”.
Together with other critics, he pointed to the limitations and obstacles faced by foreign companies operating in China, calling them evidence of Beijing's hypocrisy behind its Belt and Road Initiative.
Even India is skeptical about this initiative. India's Finance and Defense Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters in May that New Delhi has "serious doubts" about the project, especially China-funded construction in Pakistan's Kashmir.
USA retreat
While many countries may have agreed to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative in the light of a "more optimistic view of China's intentions," their illusions are slowly dissipating, said Christopher Balding, an economics professor at Peking University.
Everyone is particularly interested in what happens if China-funded projects fail. In the past, Balding said, this meant that Chinese firms and banks "essentially took over the leadership", which gave them the ability to control extremely important strategic projects in foreign countries. " Some experts also warned that some projects could be prohibitively costly, with little or no benefit to their supporters and local residents.
Jin noted that such warnings are "necessary", adding that in the past there were indeed "excessively costly and unnecessary projects, there were mistakes."
“It is imperative that resources invested in projects [under the Belt and Road Initiative] bring tangible results to people,” in the countries where they are being implemented, Jin said in an interview with CNN.
Max Baucus, a former US ambassador to China, noted that the initiative "if not intimidated, then at least alarmed many countries."
Before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, one could expect that Washington's Trans-Pacific Partnership - a trade alliance of 12 Asian and Pacific countries - could act as a counterbalance to China's growing power.
However, Trump pulled the United States out of this alliance the very day after taking office as president. Although the alliance still includes Australia and Japan, without Washington's backing the partnership will play a much less significant role, even if it continues to exist.
The US has also reduced its activity in the disputed waters of the South China Sea in what many see as another concession to Beijing from the new US president, who hopes to find a solution to the North Korean situation.
According to Bocas, the US withdrawal from the region will provoke a vacuum.
“The [Trans-Pacific Partnership] was an economic addition to the military plans in the South China Sea,” he said, adding that the Belt and Road Initiative makes China a leader.
James Griffiths