China's space programme will rebound from setbacks

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Space Industry ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
New Space ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance China's ambitious space programme suffered a setback last month when the newest and most powerful addition to the Long March rocket family, the Long March-5, was destroyed by a malfunction shortly after a launch. This was the third and most serious Long March failure over the past year. Impacts The consistency of political commitment to China's space programme will not waver. China's space industry will integrate itself into the Belt and Road Initiative. China is unlikely to allow its space industry the autonomy and freewheeling entrepreneurialism that characterises 'New Space' in the West.

Western pushback against China will increase

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive View ◽  
Downward Spiral ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Public Views ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance Senior US officials see Communist-led China as the foremost threat to the United States. The Trump administration’s campaign against it spans the spectrum of government actions: criticism; tariffs; sanctions; regulatory crackdowns; military intimidation; support for Taiwan; and restrictions on imports, exports, investment and visas. Impacts Beijing will have little success in driving a wedge between Washington and its major Western allies. The West is unlikely to produce a convincing alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Negative public views of China incentivise China-bashing by politicians, which in turn feeds negative public opinion in a downward spiral. Beijing will persist in its efforts to encourage a more positive view of China among Western publics.

China's blockchain network has strategic implications

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Payments System ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Digital Payments ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance The BSN's most immediate objective is to promote international trade by enabling smart contracts and supply chain tracing. It is often mentioned alongside other Chinese initiatives aimed at facilitating trade, most importantly the Belt and Road Initiative. Impacts The West will be suspicious of the BSN, and if it becomes widely adopted it could elicit some kind of pushback or attempts to counter it. The BSN could improve the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers by cutting costs and improving quality and security. In conjunction with the Digital Yuan, the BSN will advance China's efforts to create a universal digital payments system.

Viewpoint – could the belt and road initiative be derailed? An analysis of impediments to completion

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Enderwick
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Relative Significance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Trade War ◽  
The Belt And Road

Purpose The continuation of China’s belt and road initiative (BRI) is assumed in most analyses. Yet, recent events have created significant reputational damage for China and Chinese businesses. With a trade war evolving into a hegemonic struggle, there are a number of potential developments that could derail the BRI. This paper aims to provide a contemporary review of the factors that could negatively impact its continuation, and what China has done to mitigate the risks. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive paper that groups possible disruptive factors into three groups: internal weaknesses of the BRI and its design; those related to China’s implementation of the BRI and external concerns and pressures. Findings China has actively reviewed and refined the BRI to reduce its perceived weaknesses and increase its attractiveness to potential participants, focussing on debt dependency, transparency and governance. However, this has occurred at the same time as growing concerns regarding China’s international assertiveness, the hegemonic challenge and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Research limitations/implications These changes are occurring within an extremely dynamic environment and any analysis at one point in time is subject to considerable limitations. However, the paper brings together a range of disparate perspectives in a structured manner. Originality/value The classification of possible threats to the BRI is original and provides insights into the relative significance of the diverse challenges that China faces. The paper concludes that while China’s operational focus on the mechanics of the BRI process is necessary, it may not be sufficient to ensure its continuing development. The paper identifies the next step which is conceptualisation of these ideas and of the BRI. Some guidance as to how this might be done is provided.

Civilizational Perspectives of the Belt and Road Initiative: A Critical Testing of Huntington’s Thesis of the Clash of Civilizations in the BRI Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 2150010
Author(s):  
Baogang He
Keyword(s):  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
The West ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Fault Lines ◽  
The Belt And Road

In recent years, a civilizational perspective as a part of geopolitical analysis is deployed to fuel geopolitical concern. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been viewed as a case of the clash of civilizations between the West and China. This paper scrutinizes the civilization-based geopolitical approach and analysis. It tests the “civilizational-clash” thesis beyond the Sinic–West relations through the cases of the Sinic–Islamic and Sinic–Hindu relations. An examination and comparison of different civilizational responses to the BRI helps us to develop a critical perspective to investigate the problems in the BRI, in particular the potential civilizational fault-lines along the BRI route. The paper rejects the simplistic version of civilization-based geopolitical analysis as insufficient, problematic, and even misleading. It has sought to refine and nurture a more sophisticated and rigorous approach to the complex connection between the BRI and civilization.

scholarly journals China’s Belt and Road Initiative and large-scale outbound investment

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen Kunrong ◽  
Jin Gang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Chinese Enterprises ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Exchanges ◽  
Institutional Differences ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Enterprise Investment ◽  
The Belt And Road

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively examine the influence of formal and informal institutional differences on enterprise investment margin, mode and result. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on 2,440 micro samples of large-scale outbound investment from 609 Chinese enterprises from the years 2005 to 2016. Findings The study has found that formal institutional differences have little impact on investment scale, but significantly affect investment diversification. In order to avoid the management risks brought by formal institutional differences, enterprises tend to a full ownership structure. However, the choice between greenfield investment and cross-border mergers and acquisitions is not affected by formal institutional differences. In contrast, the impact of informal institutional differences is more extensive. Both formal and informal institutional differences significantly increase the probability of investment failure. Further research found that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bridges the formal institutional differences. Originality/value The study concludes that developing the BRI, especially cultural exchanges with countries alongside the Belt and Road, will help enterprises to “go global” faster and better.

Prospects for the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019-23

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Subject Prospects for the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019-23. Significance Five years on, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a multi-purpose foreign policy brand that encompasses far more than was initially envisaged. It has evolved from an initiative focused on Central Asian infrastructure to one with industrial, technological, environmental and legal components, and which extends geographically as far as the Arctic and into outer space.

Neither Beijing nor Washington will budge on tariffs

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Downward Pressure ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Taiwan Strait ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance Over the past few month the world’s two largest economies have exchanged threats to impose tariffs on each other. The first set on both sides took effect on July 6. The bilateral trade disputes create uncertainty in global financial markets. Current and future tariffs will hurt both economies and others around the world too. Impacts China will try to compensate by seeking cooperation with other regions and promoting initiatives such as the Belt and Road. China is likely to continue acting toughly on other issues, such as the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Tariffs and weaker domestic demand will put downward pressure on China’s manufacturing sector in particular. Volatility in China's stock markets will have spill-over effects on other Asian markets and test the resilience of these economies.

China will determine the future of the Mekong region

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mekong Region ◽  
Industrial Projects ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Regional Institution ◽  
Economic Zones ◽  
The Belt And Road

Subject China's involvement in the Mekong region. Significance China’s Lancang-Mekong Cooperation initiative involves dam and development projects, special economic zones and trade. It is integrating the region into the Belt and Road Initiative and has largely eclipsed the existing regional institution established by the downstream Mekong states. Impacts China's Mekong policies may foreshadow its approach to other regions and issues as it becomes more active in world affairs. Beijing will try to reduce the risk of a backlash by funding poverty-alleviation, development and industrial projects in the region. China's activities in the South China Sea will increase other governments' suspicion regarding Chinese activities on the Mekong.

scholarly journals Integrating international student mobility in the belt and road initiative

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
Xuan Wu ◽  
Wing Kit Chan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
International Student ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
International Student Mobility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Purpose Before the turn of the century, taking overseas students was more about a diplomatic issue dominated by the state in China, for which reason this section is relatively independent within the higher education system. However, evidence from a series of new policy documents and their impacts suggests that international student mobility (ISM) has been intensively shaped by the central government in the desire to promote its national strategy, namely the belt and road initiative. ISM policy, although with a significant proportion marketized, was introduced for a clear purpose of cultural diplomacy. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Looking beyond the debate of market-driven vs state-dominated, this paper attempts to provide a thorough understanding of this changing pattern based on examination of key changes of policy statements along with official data analysis. Findings This paper argues that the new pattern must be understood against a context of a hierarchy of higher education institutes in contemporary China: a sector led by a small number of prestigious universities generously funded by the central government with a large number of ordinary universities underfunded and eager to generate income. Prestigious institutes enroll international students to satisfy performance indicators listed by policies like “Double First-rate”; other universities, benefiting from the reputation and momentum generated by the top ones, take self-funded students for profit. Originality/value By making good use of both performance indicators and market motives, the country managed to move a state-dominated ISM policy in the twentieth century into the existing state-steering marketization model and made China a major destination for overseas study.

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