During the G20 summit last week in New Delhi, leaders from around the world announced a major project that some may view as resistance to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The United States, India, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates announced the start of a new multi-national project that will create new trade routes connecting the Middle East and Europe. Similar to the BRI this project will use a combination of railways and ports to create corridors connecting the regions by land and water. In addition, this project also holds the potential to block China’s further expansion into the West.
In cooperation with the European Union and other nations, the project will consist of two corridors for trade. The first corridor or “East Corridor” will connect India to the Arab Gulf States. The second corridor or “North Corridor” will connect the Gulf to Europe. The ultimate goal, like any establishment of trading routes, is to cut the cost of trading and lower the price of goods. However, it may be clear that this is not the only goal, as establishing these routes could make China’s expansion much more difficult while allowing participating countries a choice in who to align with.
The Belt and Road Initiative was a massive infrastructure project started in 2013 by China’s current president Xi Jinping. The goal was to recreate the Silk Road which was the world’s main trading route for hundreds of years, before the discovery of the Americas. This route connected the furthest parts of Southeast Asia to Europe via a collection of sea and land routes. China’s goal was to establish a collection of infrastructure projects (highways, bridges, railways, and ports) to connect the East to the West. They also wanted to include Africa, giving them potential access to raw resources that fuel their industrial powerhouse. However, this multi-trillion dollar project has seen its fair share of challenges, the largest being continual funding during China’s economic struggles.
Xi Jinping and Cyril Ramaphosa at a BRICS Summit. Credits: GovernmentZA
The announcement of a trade route project is a large step for America in its response to Chinese expansion. In a multi-polar world, especially post-colonialism, countries are finding different ways to show power beyond their sovereign borders. Establishing railways and ports is a method to cut costs of trading, boost the economy, spread influence and enhance cooperation. China will likely not take this news well, as it gives countries a choice to work with America, rather than the Chinese debt-trap model. It is clear that one of the goals of this project is to stop China from continuing its BRI expansion west, continuing its struggle to top America.
So what does this mean for the future? What we should expect to see is the continuation of China establishing groups and packs like BRICS in an effort to move around the already determined American-led international community. We might also expect to see a new push to finish the BRI project despite potential Chinese economic hardship. This display of power will now be rivaled by the American proposed project, potentially creating newer deadlines in this trade race.
Author: Gabriel McGaw
