Latest Articles about BRI
Looking Beyond Commodities Exports: China Increases its Engagement with Brazil
Introduction In June 2019, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) scored a victory in its relationship with Brazil when it gained the latter country’s support for the PRC’s candidate to lead the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over candidates put forward by France... MORE
Cognitive Domain Operations: The PLA’s New Holistic Concept for Influence Operations
Introduction As information becomes ever more central for Chinese warfighting, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is developing a new concept for psychological warfare in the information era called “cognitive domain operations” (认知域作战, renzhiyuzuozhan). [1] This next-generation evolution of psychological warfare seeks to use information to... MORE
China’s Future Naval Base in Cambodia and the Implications for India
Introduction At the 2019 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, People’s Republic of China (PRC) Defense Minister Wei Fenghe dismissed a question on whether the PRC is seeking a future military presence in Cambodia (VOA Cambodia, June 3). This question arose following an assessment by the U.S.... MORE
Xi Jinping’s Summer Foreign Policy Tour Displays “Great Power Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics”
Introduction In the month of June, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping kept up an ambitious international travel schedule, spending nearly half the month abroad on four major trips: to Russia, Central Asia, North Korea, and the G20 Summit in Japan. Although diplomatic... MORE
The “16+1” Becomes the “17+1”: Greece Joins China’s Dwindling Cooperation Framework in Central and Eastern Europe
Introduction: China’s (Junior) European Partners in the “16+1” On the heels of People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping’s busy bilateral tour in Western Europe in March, PRC Premier Li Keqiang started his own multilateral tour in Eastern Europe in April. Designed primarily to... MORE
Italy Joins the Belt and Road Initiative: Context, Interests, and Drivers
Introduction In March 2019, Italy and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed a broad and comprehensive, albeit not legally binding, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Italy to join the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This has triggered a significant debate—in Brussels as well... MORE
The Role of State-Owned Infrastructure Companies in the Development of China’s Latin America Policy
Introduction: “Operation Car Wash” and Infrastructure Projects in Latin America Brazil’s “Operation Car Wash” bribery probe, which began in 2014, has caused major upheavals in both Latin American politics and the region’s infrastructure sector. Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into... MORE
The Standoff Over the Myitsone Dam Project in Myanmar: Advantage China
Introduction—China’s Stalled Dam Project in Myanmar On January 12th, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Myanmar issued a statement warning Myanmar that if it failed to resolve the dispute over the stalled Myitsone Hydropower Dam project in Myanmar’s northern state of... MORE
China’s Diplomatic Moves Amidst the India-Pakistan Conflict
Introduction On March 13th, diplomatic representatives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) placed a hold on a draft resolution under consideration at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)—a resolution intended to designate Maulana Masood Azhar as a global terrorist (Business Today (India), March 14,... MORE
China’s Policy Towards a Venezuela in Crisis
Introduction Amid the ongoing crisis in Venezuela—in which the country faces not only economic meltdown, but also a division between two rival presidents, in the persons of incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido—the People’s Republic of China (PRC) remains one of the... MORE