Asian Journal of Political Science

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The Belt and Road initiative: what will china offer

the world in its rise

Saleh Shahriar

To cite this article: Saleh Shahriar (2019): The Belt and Road initiative: what will china offer the
world in its rise, Asian Journal of Political Science, DOI: 10.1080/02185377.2019.1594324

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02185377.2019.1594324

Published online: 20 Mar 2019.

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ASIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

BOOK REVIEW

The Belt and Road initiative: what will china offer the world in its rise, by Wang
Yiwei, Beijing, China, New World Press, 2016, 214 pp., price: 68 Chinese Yuan
(Hardback), ISBN 978-7-5104-5553-7

The rise of China is a global phenomenon. Evidence shows that the Belt and Road-related
research and publications are on the increase. For instance, only the Chinese scholars and aca-
demics published more than 8,400 articles in 2015, as compared to 492 in 2014 (Rolland,
2017). The ‘Belt & Road’ Initiative (BRI, afterward) is a Chinese trillion-dollar project encom-
passing multiple global issues including the world economy, poverty reduction, environment,
sustainable developments, agriculture, science, technology, education, infrastructure, and
cross-border economic cooperation. In the middle of 2017, the BRI was declared as the
‘project of the century’ (Beijing Review, 14 May 2017). According to an estimate of the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), infrastructure financing demand in Asia will be around $
8 trillion between 2010 and 2020. China has a plan to invest $ 1 trillion in infrastructure devel-
opment along the countries of the BRI (The Diplomat, 8 January 2015). ‘Total trade between
China and other Belt and Road countries in 2014–2016 exceeded US$ 3 trillion and China’s
investment in “Belt and Road” countries has surpassed US$50 billion’ (Jinping, 2017, pp.
557–558). The formal inception of the project began in 2013 when the Chinese president Xi
Jinping unveiled it during his visit to Kazakhstan. In a speech at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev Uni-
versity on 7 September 2013, he proposed the building of a Silk Road Economic Belt Road in
order to expand the Eurasian economic cooperation (For the text of the speech, see, Jinping,
2018, pp. 315–319). Again, in his visit to Indonesia, a South East Asian country, he proposed
the concept of the twenty-first century maritime silk road. More precisely, the Belt and Road
Initiative consists of two components:

. land-based the silk road economic belt; and

. sea-based the twenty-first century maritime road.

In the existing literature, there remains much confusions and intricate questions about the
BRI (Blanchard, 2017; Blanchard & Flint, 2017; Cui & Song, 2019; Huang, 2016; Jacob, 2017;
Malik, 2017; Nordin & Weissmann, 2018; Rolland, 2017; Summers, 2016). It is often argued
that as a policy tool the BRI would serve the following specific economic and geopolitical pur-
poses of the Chinese policy makers and current establishment: First, the project is designed to
establish the regional hegemony of China. Second, it is likely to challenge the current global
capitalist institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Third, it will help the Chinese president Xi Jinping and his current administration centralize
and consolidate state power for regime legitimacy (Zhao, 2016a, 2016b).
In that context, Professor Wang Yiwei has produced a book-length study on the BRI. He is
the director of the Institute of International Affairs, Renmin University, China. The work
under review is an ‘academic book’ (p. 208) designed to make a modest contribution to the
growing literature of the BRI. Moreover, the book is recommended by the Bureau of
Theory of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China. Therefore, the readers might get a thorough understandings and insights of the
Chinese perspectives and accounts regarding the BRI in a lucid and objective manner. The
2 BOOK REVIEW

book has already been translated into more than 15 languages and the focus of the book is
placed on the ‘theoretical’ and ‘macro-policy level’ analysis (p. 209).
The book is divided into IV main parts. There are several chapters under each part. Part I
has six chapters. Before part I there is a preface (pp. 1–8) and an introduction (pp. 9–20). The
BRI is ‘aimed at establishing a community of common interest, common responsibility, and
common destiny with the 4.4 billion people in 65 countries’ (p. 5). The list of the 65 countries
are provided in a subsequent table (p. 76). The author makes it clear that the BRI is not
confined or limited only to those countries, rather an open platform for mutual cooperation.
The introductory chapter raises a plethora of interrelated questions. In the subsequent chap-
ters, the book offers ‘systematic answers’ to the questions raised. The BRI is related to the idea
of the Chinese Dream. As Yiwei explains, ‘the Chinese dream is interlinked with the world’s
people’s dream for better lives’ (p. 19). The BRI is such an initiative for ‘cooperation and devel-
opment’ that relies on the ‘existing bilateral and multilateral mechanism’. It also represents the
historical symbol of ancient Silk Road (p. 19). Part I with six chapters provides introduction,
background, the Chinese historical context and the Marshall Plan. The author makes a com-
parative analysis of the intents, contents, and structure of the BRI and the Marshal Plan. It is to
be noted that the Marshal Plan was undertaken to reconstruct the world economies after the
second world war. In fact, the BRI is in line with the Chinese ‘opening up’ strategy, ‘going out’
policy and ‘new normal’ economic growth dynamics. The book largely to paint the changing
roles of China in the context of globalization, economic integration and trade liberalization.
‘China is seeking not only to integrate itself into the globalization, but also to create new stan-
dards for globalization’ (p. 19). Part II consists of three chapters elucidating the opportunities
for regional cooperation and global development. The chapters explore the key areas of
cooperation between European countries and China.
Yiwei identifies some risks and problems of the BRI in five chapters under part III (pp. 83–
121). The first problem is political risks which can be divided into two types: domestic political
risks of various countries along the line of the BRI, and geopolitical risks. The second problem
is security risks, that is, traditional and non-traditional security. It includes: natural risks,
environmental hazards, the threat of extremist forces, the threat of non-government organiz-
ations, and maritime security risks. The economic risks are demonstrated in the following
ways: (a) macro risk of probable fund crisis of the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank; (b) industrial risks of development of both China and other countries along
the route; (c) Lack of risk response mechanism; and (d) lack of supporting facilities for the
modern service industry. There are legal risks emanating from investment, labour issues,
environmental issues, poor management, trade disputes and imperfection of laws along the
RRI. Also, the Initiative has possible moral risks that might be rooted in monopoly and
unfair competition.
Part IV maps out the ways on how to advance the BRI construction. This part is composed
of three chapters. It is often claimed that China wants to establish a hegemonic rule through
the BRI project. But, Yiwei cogently observes that ‘in the process of regional cooperation,
China will never seek hegemony nor will allow others to dominate’ (p. 160). This argument
has, however, been challenged by many scholars. Some are critical of Xi Jinping’s ambitious
BRI, and his nationalistic narrative of the ‘Chinese dream’ as an effective tool for the centra-
lization of power and sustained crackdowns on the freedom of expression (Cabestan, 2017;
Lee, 2017; Qiang, 2019; Zhao, 2016b). The BRI is often criticized as a ‘dept trap’ for the devel-
oping countries, and it is categorically alleged that the BRI is geared towards ‘creating a China-
dominated hegemonic framework’ (Bhattacharya, 2016, p. 312). There are also conflicts of
interests in the implementations of the Chinese projects in several countries. China’s High-
Speed Railway projects in Myanmar, for instance, generated local resistance due to the fears
 ASIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 3

of environmental consequences. A section of the people are, therefore, worried about the
‘threat of Chinese dominance’ and high-speed ‘railway imperialism’ (Wang & Yau, 2018, p.
220). Some analysts have even expressed their grave concerns with regard to the consequences
of a possible trade war between China and the USA (Liu & Woo, 2018; Lukin, 2019). None-
theless, the Chinese President Xi Jinping emphatically rejects the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’
and its analogy that a rising China is destined for war with the United States (Er, 2016; Jinping,
2017, 2018).
There are five main ‘pillars’ of the BRI: policy communication, facility connectivity, unim-
peded trade, monetary circulation and people-to-people understandings. As the author
observed, the five factors of connectivity are a guideline for China to promote regional
cooperation and seek common development with countries along the Belt and Road
(p. 168). Also, the BRI proposes the building and construction of six economic corridors,
the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the Silk Road Fund. The connectivity
goals could be achieved on the basis of the principle of peaceful coexistence. In 2016, the
total trade volume between China and other BRI countries run up to 953.59 billion dollars,
accounting for 25.7% of China’s trade volume to the whole world. From 2012 to 2016, the
ratio of China’s trade with BRI countries relative to its trade with the whole world increased
year by year, indicating the vital role of BRI countries in China’s trade network (Chong, Qin, &
Pan, 2018). Rejuvenation, innovation and inclusiveness are crucial to the success of the BRI
(pp. 187–188). As the appendix of the book, the author has included an important official
document titled Vision and Proposed Actions Outlined on the Jointly Building Silk Road Econ-
omic Belt and twenty-first Century Maritime Silk Road. (pp. 189–207). That document is a
must reading for those who wish to understand the pros and cons of the BRI.
In addition, India has raised objections to the China–Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC),
as it is supposed to have an adverse impact on the disputed India-Pakistan border regions.
India and Pakistan are mutual enemies from the very beginning, at least in political rhetorical
expressions. India’s main concerns can be found in
China’s ‘string of pearls’ strategy to encircle India through the establishment of maritime
influence-either through investment in ports such Gwadar or Chittagong in Bangladesh-or
the establishment of basing arrangements with a variety of other states in the Indian
Ocean littoral. (Clarke, 2018, p. 97)
The book largely fails to address the Indian geopolitical concerns and security issues.
However, Yiwei’s work would have been more interesting if he had engaged more deeply
with the local country level literature on the BRI. There are insufficient discussions on the
South-East and South Asian regional geopolitical dynamics; whereas the bulk attention is
given to the European countries. Discussions in some cases are vague and abstract. According
to him, globalization (p. 161) is based on inclusiveness, harmony and balance. But these terms
are vague, and therefore require rigorous conceptual clarification and definition. Moreover, the
references he cited is insufficient to lay out more authentic answers to the questions that he
raised at the outset of the book. Yiwei did fail to utilize the Chinese media resources that
could be used as the published materials for the book. It is to be noted that the Chinese
mass media is biased due mainly to state censorship and control (Guan, Xia, & Cheng,
2016; Qin, Strömberg, & Wu, 2018; Shao, Lu, & Hao, 2016). So, there are notable limitations
in utilizing the Chinese media resources for academic research. Considering the limitations,
Shahriar (2019) has recently focused on how the Chinese media reports the BRI by an appli-
cation of the content analysis method, and he argues that the Chinese mass media have played
vital roles in justifying, legitimizing, and popularizing the BRI. Despite these limitations, the
book under review fills a major research gap in the literature with regard to the economics
4 BOOK REVIEW

and politics of the BRI. More empirical studies are needed concerning the BRI. The book pre-
sents exclusively the Chinese perspective and discourses of the BRI; scholars from other dis-
ciplines like economics, political science, anthropology, sociology, public policy studies,
communications, history, development studies, and international relations could undertake
innovative and empirical research projects by using different theoretical approaches and multi-
disciplinary perspectives. At last, I congratulate the author for undertaking the study.

Acknowledgement
The author is extremely grateful to Dr. Abu Elias Sarkar, Associate Professor, Department of Man-
agement, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, The United Arab Emirates, for
his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this article. Also, the author thanks the China Scholar-
ship Council (CSC) for the financial support. The author is solely responsible for the content and
limitation of this review.

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Saleh Shahriar
College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi, People’s Republic
of China
shahriar.tib@gmail.com http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5199-3258
© 2019 Saleh Shahriar
https://doi.org/10.1080/02185377.2019.1594324