China’s New Silk Road Initiative and how it influences the US-China relation

In 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China has been busy building a new gigantic
cross-bordering project named the New Silk Road, which has been named after the famous
ancient Silk Road that connected China with the rest of the world.
The New Silk Road will consist of a series of new ports, train stations, thousands of
kilometres of train tracks and huge infrastructural development in over 68 countries. China’s
intention with this huge operation is to establish a new trade corridor with Central Asia on
the one hand, and Europe on the other. Looking at the past four years with the US being
ruled by the Trump administration it is not strange that China continues to pump enormous
amounts of money into the project, which will be an estimated total of about 900 billion
dollars. With Trumps hostile stance against China on various topics including the trade
imbalance between the two countries, China seeks to establish a more stable trade relation
with Europe and countries between these two parts of the world. China’s ambition to be
able to trade freely with these countries regardless of what the US does will soon be a
reality, as the Chinese continue to expand the route with infrastructure and alliances along
the way.
The US obviously looks at these developments with suspicion as China is trying to become
the world’s number one, a position the US has been able to claim for a long period of time.
It seems that finally there has emerged a worthy opponent of the mighty United States in
the international political landscape. Historically, this scene has been dominated by the US
and its allies. However, with the emergence of China as a superpower this dominant position
of the West is starting to show some serious cracks such as the current disagreement within
NATO about military budgets. This is just an example among many other economic issues
that contribute to the US’s position of dominance to weaken further in the world, a
development the Chinese are willing to take advantage of.
All in all, the New Silk Road is a smart and daring move to make for the Chinese, as it will
assure them of a future trade with the other big Western power: Europe. If the US fails to
lives up to its reputation of the world’s biggest superpower, it could very well be possible
that China will soon be the leading force in the world. You’ve presumably known about the
Silk Street, the antiquated shipping lane that once ran among China and the West during the
times of the Roman Realm. It’s the manner by which oriental silk originally made it to
Europe. It’s additionally the explanation China is no more odd to carrots.
Furthermore, presently it’s being revived. Reported in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, a spic
and span twofold exchange hallway is set to return channels among China and its neighbours
in the west: most quite Focal Asia, the Center East and Europe. As per the Belt and Street
Activity Plance delivered in 2015, the activity will envelop land courses (the Belt) and
oceanic courses (the Road) with the objective of improving exchange connections the
area essentially through foundation speculations.

The point of the $900 billion plan, as China disclosed as of late, is to encourage another
period of globalization, a brilliant time of business that will profit all. Beijing says it will
eventually loan as much as $8 trillion for framework in 68 nations. That amounts to as much
as 65% of the worldwide populace and 33% of worldwide Gross domestic product, as
indicated by the worldwide consultancy McKinsey.
Be that as it may, surveys from the remainder of the world have been blended, with a few
nations communicating doubt about China’s actual international goals, even while others
went to a highest point in Beijing prior this month to laud the scale and extent of the task.
The undertaking has demonstrated tremendous, costly and questionable. Four years after it
was first revealed, the inquiry remains:
For what reason is China doing it?
One in number impetus is that Trans-Eurasian exchange foundation could support more
unfortunate nations toward the south of China, just as lift worldwide exchange. Homegrown
districts are additionally expected to profit – particularly the less-created outskirt locales in
the west of the nation, for example, Xinjiang.
The monetary advantages, both locally and abroad, are many, yet maybe the most clear is
that exchanging with new business sectors could go far towards keeping China’s public
economy light.
Among homegrown business sectors set to pick up from future exchange are Chinese
organizations, for example, those in transport and telecoms which presently look ready to
develop into worldwide brands. Chinese assembling likewise stands to pick up. The nation’s
tremendous mechanical overcapacity – essentially in the production of steel and hefty gear
could discover worthwhile sources along the New Silk Street, and this could permit Chinese
assembling to swing towards better quality modern merchandise.

On 8 May 2015, following exchanges between the heads of Russia and China, a joint
assertion on collaboration between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the One Belt,
One Road Initiative was agreed upon. A few specialists in China and Russia alluded to this
joint idea as “One Belt, One Union”.

On 25-27 April 2019, Beijing facilitated the second “Belt and Road Forum for International
Cooperation” which was gone to by 37 unfamiliar heads of state and government and agents
from in excess of 150 nations and 90 worldwide associations. The degree of members and
the consideration got far and wide left no uncertainty with regards to the developing allure
of the activity. It additionally demonstrated an undeniably far and wide agreement that
monetary egomania and self-importance is offering approach to sound community and a
direction towards another kind of globalization, in light of standards of uniformity, sway, and
common turn of events.

Considering the size of the Belt and Road Initiative and the measure of speculation China put
into it through the recently established multilateral monetary organizations like the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, and the Silk Road Fund, it isn't
astounding that significant forces including the European Union and the US are
communicating huge concerns.

On one hand, this is because of an intrinsic Western doubt about any activity offered by the
non-Western world.
Then again as the geology of the undertaking extends and its help develops over the creating
scene, Western nations are starting to stress that their long-term prevailing positions are
evolving. This is additionally a result of the way that for quite a while, the customary
worldwide advancement establishments didn't give the vital load to agricultural nations to
partake in the worldwide monetary framework considering their genuine commitment to
worldwide financial improvement close by their institutional democratic force and jobs.
Lately described by worldwide vulnerability, numerous nations have thought of their own
global improvement ventures. “Brilliant Path” in Kazakhstan, “Center Corridor” in Tukey,
“Way of Development” in Mongolia, “Golden Road” in Poland, “Two Corridors “, “One
Circle” in Vietnam are only a couple, yet the Belt and Road Initiative is the most progressive
from a useful point of view. In any case, this doesn't mean the BRI overwhelms or replaces
existing advancement programs; rather, it tries to fabricate commonly useful organizations.

As indicated by the China Railway Corporation, China-Europe cargo trains made 6,363
excursions in 2018, flooding 73% up from 2017. The trains joined 59 Chinese urban
communities and 49 urban communities in 15 European nations. Cargo benefits, a critical
piece of the Belt and Road Initiative, started activity in March 2011. Nonetheless, for future
turn of events, beating critical existing constraints, for example, refreshing and putting
resources into existing vehicle and coordinations foundation, customs techniques, and cross-
fringe participation, won't sufficiently be. Notwithstanding such 'specialized' challenges,
different dangers are tied up in the current logical inconsistencies of worldwide political
economy and society. For instance, development of cross-fringe framework will a clearly be
troublesome all through the contested area of Kashmir, other than different districts in Asia
and Africa in which military encounter among fighting gatherings or psychological oppressor
bunches exists.

Simultaneously, the vital thought of the Belt and Road activity equivalent and commonly
valuable participation without forcing any political conditions obviously negates the at
present prevailing proposition in contemporary world governmental issues. The new
methodologies could change the very pith of international relations and geo-financial
aspects by modifying the obsolete Cold War attitude of the past.

International hypothesis has consistently been explained through a perspective of

contention, isolating the world into us and them. The invading insecurity of progressing
exchange wars and authorizes contribute their own constraints, which should be survived,
for which specific effect gets from monetary relations between the US and different nations,
essentially China.

Literature review
The topic of the relations between China and the US has of course been studied and
researched by others many times. In this part of the essay we will go over a few of them and
discuss what their core arguments are, their conclusions and their way of research.

In ‘The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?’ Aaron L. Friedberg (Professor of

Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University) talks about the future of US – China
relations and the likelihood of a potential military conflict between the two super powers.
The stance he takes in his book is quite surprising. Professor Friedberg does not simply stand
behind one possible future situation when it comes to US – China tensions. Neither does
Friedberg support solely one theoretical approach in international relations, such as realism,
liberalism or constructivism. Rather, Friedberg expresses the importance of other big powers
in the world such as Russia, which could play a huge role if and when it comes to the
emergence of a conflict between the US and its allies on the one hand, and China and its
allies on the other. Major players in the international political landscape such as Russia could
prove to be a big problem for the US if they support China in a potential future conflict.

Sources:

https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/016228805775124589

The Belt and Road Initiative as a new model for global development (doc-research.org)