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Showing posts with label B & Road Initiative (BRI). Show all posts
Showing posts with label B & Road Initiative (BRI). Show all posts

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

G7 to raise US$600bil PGII to counter China’s initiative met with skepticism, mockery

 

G7 summit: Is western influence waning in a multipolar world? 

 The Star

 

 Top shots: Leaders of the G7 at the gathering in southern Germany. Biden and other leaders relaunched the newly renamed “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment” at the annual event. — AFP

 
 

G7 summit is more like a Western mobilization meeting for US diplomatic strategy 

 

G7’s $600 billion PGII met with skepticism, mockery

US' program eyes geopolitics; 'objective impure'   

Protesters hold banners reading
Protesters hold banners reading "Global justice - climate protection instead of armament" among others, during a demonstration against the G7 Summit, on June 27, 2022 near Elmau Castle, southern Germany, where the G7-leaders are gathered. Photo: AFP

 

After US president Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven (G7) nations proposed to raise $600 billion in the next five years to finance infrastructure projects in developing countries, a move generally interpreted by observers as intending to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economists expressed skepticism over the feasibility of such a program, citing reasons such as the US' strained government debt status, poor infrastructure construction abilities and past failure with a similar project.

They also criticized the G7 proposal for having an "insincere" intention, as it was raised more from the perspective of launching a political competition with China, instead of really caring about the infrastructure situations in lower income countries. In this sense, it is unlikely to yield any project that could compare with China's flagship BRI projects, which focus on mutual connectivity, win-win, not decoupling and exclusionism.

Government leaders from Group of Seven nations made a pledge on Sunday at their annual gathering to raise $600 billion in private and public funds over the next five years to finance infrastructure in developing countries, in a project called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), a Reuters report noted on Monday.

US president Joe Biden said that the US aims to mobilize $200 billion for the PGII project over the period through grants, federal funds and private investment to support projects that help tackle climate change, improve global health, digital infrastructure and gender equity. He highlighted several flagship projects, including a $2 billion solar development project in Angola, the report noted.

Europe will mobilize 300 billion euros for the initiative, Reuters said.

On the sidelines of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Germany, Biden said that the PGII is not aid or charity, but will "deliver returns for everyone", including the American people, according to a report by npr.org on Sunday.

The G7 nations launched the PGII project only about one year after a very similar scheme was unveiled at the G7 conference last July. The scheme, named Build Back Better World, commonly known as B3W, is considered by many media outlets as a predecessor to the PGII. UK newspaper The Guardian, for example, used the word "relaunch" to imply that PGII is just a disguised version of B3W.

Insincere intention

Although the US government didn't explicitly mention the relationship between PGII and the China-proposed BRI program, many media outlets including Reuters as well as economists mentioned that the real intention of PGII is to counter China's BRI which has delivered many concrete projects since it was proposed in 2013.

Hu Qimu, chief research fellow at the Beijing-based Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, said that China's global infrastructure cooperation has continued to yield results in recent years, standing in sharp contrast to some Western governments' "dereliction of duty" in this area.

"The PGII is like a shouted slogan to ring-fence China's strategies, a kind of tactic to create an atmosphere of cracking down on China," Hu said, adding that it could also be a method used by Biden to pander to voters ahead of the US mid-term elections.

Another international relations expert who requested anonymity also said that the US, which has no tradition of helping other countries in the field of infrastructure, would not suddenly change and take to the idea. "The real intent is to counter China's projects and compete with China," the person said.

Observers found that the PGII's two pillars of clean energy and information/communications technology are particularly hostile to China, as the West has been smearing China over issues related to the solar power industry in Xinjiang and China's 5G technology, using security concerns as an excuse.

Commenting on this policy direction, experts criticized the US-led program for lacking the sincerity of really caring about the infrastructure situations in developing countries, saying instead that it had a very "impure" objective.

"If the G7 group only targets China's overseas infrastructure market for competition, history will prove that this kind of top-level planning that lacks the concept of common development will only become another short-lived project," Wang Jianjiao, director of the economic and trade cooperation department under the Silk Road Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang also noted that only when the US gives up its global cooperation model, which often attaches "unequal additional conditions", gets rid of its own debt predicament and reinvigorates the US' real economy will it have a chance of competing with China in overseas infrastructure markets.

Unfeasible project

Economists also noted that the PGII and its promised funding volume by the US government is never likely to become reality, considering the US' internal economic problems and unstable political situation.

Qiu Wenxu, director of the industry development department under the Silk Road Academy of Social Sciences, said that if the US government really intends to materialize the $200 billion funding, it is unlikely to come mostly from private capital, as infrastructure projects have long investment cycles and relatively low yield rates, making them unattractive to private investors.

"However, at the current time when the US' government debt is at a critically high level and it has hardly any budget to invest in foreign-bound infrastructure, Biden still needs to raise most of the money from private companies. In this sense, it's very likely that the $200 billion fund can't be raised to the full number," Qiu told the Global Times on Monday.

He further stressed that the US does not have advantages in infrastructure construction, pointing out that it has hardly completed any large infrastructure projects in its own country in the past 10 years, not to mention abroad. For example, California's high-speed rail, a flagship US infrastructure project, is "tens of billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule," according to a report by kqed.org in May.

Some experts also noted that the US' changing political situation is also casting uncertainties over implementation of the funding.

"It would be even more difficult to convince the US Congress to invest overseas, if after the midterm elections the Democrats lose the majority of House of Representatives," Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies and research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times, on Monday.

In fact, analysts have pointed out that the PGII funding would in fact add liability to Biden's already poor approval rating in the US, given the much weakened domestic economy due to galloping inflation, among other social issues.

The difficulties in raising funds for such a project were already shown in the PGII's predecessor project B3W, which some media outlets and people regarded as a failure. An article by Foreign Affairs, for example, said that the B3W project has " languished", while a Guardian report noted that "little had been heard of" B3W since its launch.

According to the Foreign Affairs article, the US' commitments to global infrastructure renewal only came to about $6 million under the B3W project in one year after its launch, which is "a far cry" from the billions Biden promised at the beginning.

"Judging from the B3W implementation, it has high probability that the PGII will be another empty promise," Qiu said.

BRI success to continue

Economists also said that even with competition and certain countries' attempts to smear the BRI, the benefits and achievements of BRI is obvious to all, and that BRI investment will likely continue to surge in the future regardless of the volatile global political situation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Monday that China welcomes any initiative to promote global construction of infrastructure. "We believe that one initiative is not meant to replace another. However, we oppose the act of using the name of infrastructure to promote geopolitical schemes," he said.

Liang Haiming, dean of the Belt and Road Institute at Hainan University, also told the Global Times that even if Western countries loan money to developing countries to build infrastructure projects, China might benefit from such a program, as many countries would purchase China's construction materials as they are known for being cost effective.

Qiu also said that China's BRI has become one of the largest international cooperation platforms in past years, as the country does not view infrastructure construction projects as the ultimate purpose, but aims to help countries consolidate economic development foundations by improving their infrastructure construction.

In the first five months, China's non-financial foreign direct investment in countries along the BRI route rose 10.2 percent to about $8.2 billion, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. 

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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

CDAC harmony is an idea Western critics can’t understand - Cultural superiority is stupid and disastrous, Chinese President Xi Jinping warns as US tensions persist

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The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) begins Wednesday in Beijing with over 2,000 government officials and representatives from 47 Asian countries and other participating regions in attendance.c

The event is yet another diplomatic effort by China following the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition.

The CDAC marks the first time Asian countries have gathered for cross-cultural exchange, adding to the event's historical groundbreaking significance.

The necessity of the CDAC is highlighted by Western reaction. Some Westerners, trapped in geopolitical thought, view the event as a competition between China and the West.

This way of thinking leads to estrangement and conflict between civilizations, turning dialogue into an increasingly global concern.

At this juncture, whomever stands up and to promote dialogue and exchange among civilizations will create future benefits for the following centuries. It's not an accident the CDAC was born in Asia and initiated by China.

Asia is a vast continent with diverse civilizations and religions. If different entities can achieve inclusiveness, mutual learning, and become closer with one another, it will be a success over the experiment of unilateralism.

With uneven development and as the former victims of the Cold War, Asian countries are concerned with equality and independence, the foundation required for civilizations to achieve peaceful coexistence.

China is the most powerful country in Asia, opposing hegemonism and confrontation while advocating harmonious coexistence and cross-cultural learning. CDAC is part of China's endeavor to realize what that entails, and only time will prove the significance of China's exploration.

As the birthplace of modernization and globalization, the West occupies a natural position in the international political arena. Many Westerners are obsessed with Western style centralism. However, in recent years, they have seen the rapid development of non-Western countries, and Asian countries in particular, which has made them sensitive and narrow-minded.

Western vigilance, mistrust, and hostility toward foreign civilizations only agitate their differences and contradictions, and can ignite bloody conflicts.

Globalization is at an inflection point. At a time when China is trying to bridge the gaps between different civilizations, the US is in search of border wall funding. While China expands and opens up in more areas, the US closes its door to technological, educational, and social and science exchanges.

A rift between Western civilizations and non-Western civilizations is unbearable to today's world. Whether Western civilization can be more inclusive will determine the course of globalization. Any far-sighted, rational-thinking person will be excited with the progress achieved during the CDAC.

Adapting to modern times is the Asian continent's mission and China is willing to work with Asian countries to achieve a harmonious coexistence.

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Cultural superiority is stupid and disastrous, Chinese President Xi Jinping warns as US tensions persist

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that one civilisation forcing itself on another would be “stupid” and “disastrous” as he called on nations to respect each other on Wednesday, with Beijing embroiled in rising confrontation with the United States on trade as well as military and cultural matters.

In a speech at the start of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations – designed for Beijing to show its soft power – Xi did not mention any nation by name, but said nobody should regard their race as superior.

The speech came two weeks after US State Department director of policy planning Kiron Skinner described strategic competition with China as “a fight with a really different civilisation and a different ideology”. Skinner said it was the first time the US had faced a “great power competitor that is not Caucasian”.

Chinese officials have rejected Skinner’s remarks, and in his speech Xi appeared to expand on the theme, saying cultures were distinctive but no better or worse than each other.

“If someone thinks their own race and civilisation is superior and insists on remoulding or replacing other civilisations, it would be a stupid idea and disastrous act,” Xi said.

“We should hold up equality and respect, abandon pride and prejudice, deepen our knowledge about the differences between our own and other civilisations, and promote harmonious dialogue and coexistence between civilisations.”

He went on to say: “If countries retreat back to secluded islands, human civilisation will die out because of a lack of exchanges.”

Xi stressed that people should step beyond the limits of their own culture to discover the advantages of others, and argued it was the best way to inspire innovation.

“All civilisations must progress with time and keep up with the latest achievement,” he said.

The president suggested that the Belt and Road Initiative, his transcontinental infrastructure strategy, was also a means to promote cooperation between nations.

“The Belt and Road … and other initiatives have expanded the channels for civilisation exchanges,” he said.

Beijing last month held the Belt and Road Forum to showcase its trade and infrastructure projects in countries in Asia to Africa.

The speech reiterated the idea, which  Xi has aired previously, of a community of shared destiny, arguing that Asian countries should open and connect their polices, infrastructures, trade, investment and people.

Asia must maintain peace as the precondition of economic growth, which is the pillar of civilisation, he argued.

Can China do soft power? Poorly organised yet tightly controlled forum raises questions


“All countries should conduct exchanges beyond borders of state, time and civilisations, and work together to protect the peaceful time we have, which is more precious than gold,” Xi said.

“Children and women are suffering from poverty, hunger and diseases in Asia. This has to be changed,” he said, calling on Asian nations to “work together to promote an open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial globalised economy, eradicating poverty”.

Xi proposed deeper cultural exchanges, saying that China would cooperate with more Asian nations to translate their literature and would promote inward and outward tourism.

“This can facilitate the appreciation and understanding of different cultures,” he said.

Opinion: US-China trade war is really a clash of civilisations

Stating that China received 140 million overseas tourists last year while 160 million Chinese made visits abroad, Xi said tourism could promote economic growth and friendship in Asia.

China would increase exchanges involving young people and think tanks, he added.

Source link   





Xi warns of disaster if one civilisation imposes will
on another
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010287/cultural-superiority-stupid-and-disastrous-chinese-president


Related posts:


 
lustration: Liu Rui/GT The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations will be held from May 15 to 22 in Beijing, and Chinese Presi..


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

One Belt One Road paving the way to success



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In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which became known as the Belt and Road Initiative.

Countries along the Belt and Road have their own resource advantages, and their economies are mutually complementary. This means there is a great potential and space for cooperation.

Connecting facilities is a priority in implementing the initiative. On the basis of respecting each other's sovereignty and security concerns, countries along the Belt and Road are improving the connectivity of their infrastructure construction plans and technical standard systems, jointly pushing forward the construction of international passageways, and forming an infrastructure network connecting all sub-regions in Asia, and between Asia, Europe and Africa.

At the same time, China and countries along the way are making efforts to promote green and low-carbon infrastructure construction and operation management, taking into full account the impact of climate change on any construction.

With regard to transport infrastructure construction, they are focusing on key passageways, junctions and projects, and giving priority to linking up unconnected road sections, removing transport bottlenecks, advancing road safety facilities and traffic management facilities and equipment, and improving road network connectivity.

Countries along the Belt and Road are building a unified coordination mechanism for whole-course transportation, increasing connectivity in customs clearance, reloading and multimodal transport, and gradually formulating compatible and standard transport rules, in order to facilitate international transport.

China suggests pushing forward port infrastructure construction, building smooth land-water transportation channels, and advancing port cooperation, increasing sea routes and the number of voyages, and enhancing information technology cooperation in maritime logistics. We should expand and build platforms and mechanisms for comprehensive civil aviation cooperation, and quicken our pace in improving aviation infrastructure.

In this episode, we will see how Belt and Road helps close the distance between people around the world.

The Belt and Road:
http://watchthis.chinadaily.com.cn/video/column/belt-and-road/

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