The Silk Road

[GeneChing]

HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
August 10, 2015, Monday
China: 21st century Silk Road project (http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/hasan-kanbolat/china-21st-century-silk-road-project_396106.html)

China is undergoing a major transformation. Its high-paced growth is taking a toll on the social structure. For instance, Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution largely undermined the fabric of family and social life. Even members of the same family would report each other's anti-establishment activities. It was an ideology-centric era in China when people were required to hang photos of Mao, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Josef Stalin on the walls of each room in the house.

Gone are the old days. The wounds of the past were redressed and had started to be forgotten. The practice of wearing single-type attire was terminated in 1973. Although the elder and more traditional members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) continue to stick to this tradition, it is more like a veneration of the past. Mao has come to be accepted and honored as the founding leader of China. China has emerged as the world's primary buyer of raw materials and energy. As the same time, it has become the primary exporter of cheap processed goods. It is the world's third largest foreign investor after the United States and the European Union.

In 2013, China announced the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) development framework that focuses on the land-based and maritime silk roads. The land-based Silk Road is around 7,000 kilometers and was mainly used between the second and 16th centuries to transfer raw materials and processed goods from China to the West. The Silk Road was instrumental not only in transformation and commerce but also played a major role in improving communication and civilization between East and West. The Beijing administration argues that China, which has implemented a reform and foreign expansion program, has to integrate with the world to fuel its growth, while the world needs close cooperation with China for development. There was certain progress in eliminating inequality among people and countries until the 1980s, after which inequality started to increase. The rise in inequality has sped up, particularly in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Silk Road project seeks to eliminate inequity and ensure that people and countries are provided with equal opportunities. The project takes into consideration diversities as well. The main purpose of the project is to connect dynamic Asia to developed Europe, help the development of the countries under the project and cement a more balanced structure of regional cooperation. Under the project, China is offering state scholarships to 10,000 students from Silk Road countries. Cooperation will be improved in the areas of tourism, technology, health and science. Investments, commerce and visa procedures will be facilitated. Free-trade zones will be established. The project will avoid competing with other regional cooperation projects and, rather, seeks to have a complementary relationship. China expects a foreign trade volume of $2.5 trillion with the Silk Road countries in the next 10 years. This figure is currently $1.3 trillion.

In China, the number four is considered to bring bad luck. This is because its ****phone is the Chinese word for death. The number seven is also considered ominous as it is perceived as bringing obsession or getting stuck. In Chinese, the word eight is very similar to the word for wealth. Therefore, if a business employs many eights, it is believed to be successful. When the Chinese words for danger and opportunity are merged, you get the Chinese word for crisis. In Chinese mythology, the lotus flower represents purity and integrity as it emerges from the mud. I hope the phrase Silk Road brings good luck to all the Silk Road countries. This project may or may not be successful, but we need solidarity, peace and development with equality.

Why do we need a Silk Road thread? Soon come. ;)

[PalmStriker]

:)New Silk Road Project will include the "Marco Polo" Connection in ground/maritime master plan: http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/chinas-new-silk-road-vision-revealed/

[GeneChing]

KungFuMagazine.com's intrepid reporter Greg Brundage begins his Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour: Part 1: Xian, China and the Fabled Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1239) by Greg Brundage.

[GeneChing]

Read The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 2: The Kung Fu Masters of Xian (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1241) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 3: Turpan: Flaming Mountains, Eid al-Fitr with a Uyghur Family, and Bezeklik 1000 Buddha Caves (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1243) by Greg Brundage

[@PLUGO]

For more great photos check out the KungFuMagazine.com Google+ Album (https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114753239137246065777/photos/+KungfuMagazineDOTcom/albums/6190081904688606785).

[PalmStriker]

:) Great to have reporter/TCMA Greg Brundage on the Road for a glimpse of the big picture in this monumental project. Finished Part 1. A must read!

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 4: Turpan: Urumqi Jingwu School – Interview with Faculty Member Young Master Ai Li and Other Kung Fu Schools in Urumqi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1245) By Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 5: Road to Almaty Kazakhstan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1250) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 6: Kung Fu In Almaty, Kazakhstan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1256) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 7: Interview with Dmitrushenko Yuriy Vladimirovich, President of the Kung Fu Federation of Kyrgyz Republic (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1258) by Gregory Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 8: Interview with Uzbekistan’s Wushu Federation President Mr. Ganiev Ravshan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1260) by Greg Brundage

The next installment is the final one.

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 9: Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine and International Diplomacy (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1261) by Greg Brundage

I want to thank Greg for sharing his extraordinary adventure with us.

[PalmStriker]

:) Great reads! Going to binge read the last 3 installments, now! :D * Greg is the perfect ambassador for the KFM Silk Road Journey.

[GeneChing]

The ancient ‘Silk Road’ is back in business as new train connects China to Tehran (http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/15/10999826/first-train-iran-china-silk-road-trade-route)
Zhejiang to Tehran in 14 days
By Andrew J . Hawkins on February 15, 2016 12:36 pm Email @andyjayhawk

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DEEZCyKyYQMeU1tc1yYMRWx8N5E=/36x0:3648x2408/2050x1367/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48818505/GettyImages-115155363.0.0.jpg

The first train connecting Iran and China loaded with Chinese goods arrived in Tehran Monday, reviving the ancient Silk Road trade route and highlighting the economic possibilities for Iran since the lifting of international sanctions, AFP reports. The 5,900-mile trip from eastern Zhejiang province took 14 days, or 30 days less than a typical sea voyage between Shanghai and the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, according to the head of the Iranian railway company, Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi.

Tehran is not the train's final stop, though. According to Aqayi, the plan is to lengthen the routes into Europe, which would give Iran the opportunity to raise even more money from passing trains. The country recently sent its first shipment of crude oil to Europe via shipping container, Bloomberg reports.


30 DAYS LESS THAN A TYPICAL SEA VOYAGE

China was one of the few world powers that did not have sanctions against Iran. More than a third of Iran's foreign trade is with China, which is Tehran's top oil customer. A spokesperson for Iran's rail company told AFP that future trains from China would arrive with greater frequency, starting at once a month and increasing from there. The leaders of both countries agreed to a 10-year, $600 billion trade partnership last month.

The Silk Road is an ancient network of trade routes dating back to 220 BCE, connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a significant player in the rise of both Eastern and Western civilizations, including China, India, Greece, Rome, and Persia. In 2013, the president of China proposed the idea of creating a new Silk Road through Russia and the Ukraine into Europe. Under the title "One Belt, One Road," this plan is China's new national vision to improve its connectivity to Europe, Asia, and Africa.

What an amazing train ride this must be.

[GeneChing]

China’s Silk Road Reaches Iran, Pushes Toward Europe (https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/13601.19.0.0/economy/trade/chinas-silk-road-reaches-iran-pushes-toward-europe)
February 25, 2016 • From theTrumpet.com
The ancient trade route continues its modern-day advance.
BY KIEREN UNDERWOOD

https://images.thetrumpet.com/56ce39a7!h.300,id.13513,m.fill,w.540

The first train on China’s “Silk Road” railway arrived in Tehran on February 15, making the 5,900-mile journey in a third of the time required by a sea voyage.

The Silk Road refers to an ancient network of trade routes that connected cultures running from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean—especially the lucrative trade of Chinese silk. In late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled his plan to revive the Silk Road with his One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR). Now that transport network has reached Iran.

China’s government says OBOR “aims to promote the connectivity of Asian, European and African continents,” while “strengthening partnerships” that run through the path of the ancient Silk Road. Others expect even more. “Some people say there are only 65 countries involved, but that’s a misunderstanding,” says Zhao Changhui, chief risk analyst at China Export-Import Bank. “It’s a new method of development for China and the world.”

Iran welcomed the project. Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi, the head of the Iranian railway company, said the train’s arrival in 14 days was an “unprecedented achievement.”

But the train routes don’t stop in the Middle East. One diesel locomotive already makes the 8,100-mile journey from the east coast of China to Spain. Political leaders in Europe, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have publicly lauded OBOR and expressed enthusiasm to participate in it. Multiple European countries previously showed their enthusiasm for joint cooperation when they joined the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The Diplomat, which covers the Asia-Pacific region, recognized the opportunities that China’s grand initiative could have:

For centuries, the long distance between Europe and China has been a natural obstacle to strengthening bilateral trade relations. As the OBOR project concentrates on enhancing connectivity and transport infrastructure, there is huge potential to enlarge and accelerate the movements of goods between China and Europe.

Critics of the OBOR intiative have pointed to slow growth of major projects in Europe. “Europeans are watching at the implementation in Pakistan, which is really the only country where major OBOR projects are coming up,” said the deputy director of the Asia and China Program, Mathieu Duchatel.

Zhao says the lack of projects so far is simply because the concept is new: “The time is not ripe. It’s not that there aren’t projects, it’s just that they aren’t developed yet.”

China’s largest trading partner is already the European Union, and its economic footprint there is spreading. In January, China was accepted as a small yet symbolic shareholder into the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Trumpet has followed the growing relationship between China and Europe (especially Germany) and expects their trade alliance to be further strengthened. You can find out the details of that trade relationship in a column by the late Ron Fraser, “The Great Mart.” ▪

And more to come...;)

[GeneChing]

Full-scale launch of Silk Road route from Ukraine to China slated for March (http://www.unian.info/economics/1276739-full-scale-launch-of-silk-road-route-from-ukraine-to-china-slated-for-march.html)
26.02.2016 | 16:08

Acting head of Ukrainian rail transport giant PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Zavhorodniy says that the Trans-Caspian transport corridor from Europe to China will begin to work at full capacity early this spring.

http://images.unian.net/photos/2016_02/1454420341-5659.jpg
The Silk Road route from Ukraine to China will take 11 days / Photo from mtu.gov.ua

"It hasn't been launched at full capacity yet. We have sent a first train to assess the situation, to see if there are problems or restrictions. The route will be launched at full in March. When this Silk Road starts working, we'll be able to deliver freight from China to the border with Poland for 11 days. This is virtually as much time as a train runs via Russia," Zavhorodniy said in an interview with Ukrainian online publication Livy Bereh at lb.ua.

In his words, Ukrzaliznytsia plans to launch two own ferries to reduce the Silk Road fare.

"This will significantly reduce the cost of freight transportation along the Silk Road and make the route more attractive and competitive. Our counterparts from Poland and Germany have repeatedly announced their interest in the creation of this transport corridor. And today, we are working with them to hammer out a common policy with a single tariff," he said.

Zavhorodniy says that this route is of strategic importance to Ukraine in terms of national security.

I'm starting to ponder the economic impact of this route on tomorrow's international commerce.

[GeneChing]

And there's even a new TV show coming to Discovery Channel.


David Baddiel on the Silk Road (http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/feb/26/david-baddiel-on-the-silk-road?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1)
Giant dogs, eagle hunters and vodka were all in a day’s work when comedian David Baddiel was filming his new TV series about the historic trade route

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David Baddiel in Kashgar Sunday livestock market, Xinjiang Region, China. Photograph: TIm Pelling/Discovery Communications

Interview by Will Coldwell @will_coldwell
Friday 26 February 2016 06.49 EST Last modified on Friday 26 February 2016 06.51 EST

There’s a famous bit in Blade Runner when the android, Roy, dies and says: “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.” I like to think that’s something I could say about my Silk Road journey. I was on parts of the Earth that felt like the moon.

The Silk Road was the first international trade route. Travellers exchanged ideas on scientific invention, religion, culture, music – everything, really. Globalisation has been the wellspring of most ideas.

There’s an old Georgian saying that wine should be good enough to make a pheasant cry. Wine is meant to have begun there. In Sighnaghi there’s a vineyard called Pheasant’s Tears, where we had a traditional feast of about 27 courses, with a speech between each one, and drank an incredible amount.

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A train container covered with a tarpaulin depicting the Silk Road. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

We had to track down these enormous, human-sized dogs. Silk Road traders bred them for catching bears. They still exist in Georgia, but they’re really hard to find. We drove out into the mountains and eventually we found a farm that had one. It was terrifying.

I had to run away from dogs in China, too. We were trying to find the old Great Wall – what we think of as the Great Wall was rebuilt by Mao. The old one is very hard to find because it has fallen into disuse and was made of mud. We thought we’d found a bit of it but it was surrounded by wild dogs. There’s footage of me running away.

In Xi’an, I was grabbed by a middle-aged woman and pulled into her noodle shop. I thought I was being arrested, but she’d just thought, OK, he’s on TV somewhere so I’ll advertise my noodles. I had one of the best meals I’ve ever had. There are thousands of these places in Xi’an market.

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Food stall in the Muslim quarter of Xi’an, China. Photograph: Alamy

Kyrgyzstan is the only democracy in central Asia. Everywhere else around there is still very Soviet. Bishkek, the capital city, is still very poor but it’s becoming a hip, exciting city. There are lots of really fabulous cafes.

In Uzbekistan, the whole crew apart from me fell really ill. Me and the fixer just kept filming. We dined with the one Jewish family left in Uzbekistan and they insisted on me drinking vodka. It was 50C, I was filming with a guy who had never done it before – and I was completely drunk. Then I had to go and wrestle in the main square of Bukhara...

Turns out I really like camel’s milk – who knew? The food in central Asia is not so great: it tends to be horse. Rabbit stew at an eagle hunter’s house in Kyrgyzstan was really nice, though. At first I felt bad because this thing was hopping around the desert one minute, then killed by an eagle. The hunter skinned it in front of me ... But then his wife cooked it and it was delicious.

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Baddiel with a local boy in a nomad village in Kyrgyzstan. Photograph: Mielnikiewicz Justyna

In Turkey, I had to harvest pigeon poo to try and make gunpowder. The eventual collapse of the Silk Road happened because the Ottoman took gunpowder from the Chinese and found this way of making it. It led, indirectly, to the fall of Constantinople.

There’s a shade of blue invented by the Chinese that you can see in Buddhist caves in western China. As you move west along the Silk Road, you see how it appeared on church walls. It’s amazing how you can trace the process. We were trying to find places where things that are very widespread in the world began.

I don’t think comedians are better travellers but they are communicators and storytellers. I think it was Victoria Wood who said: “I’m over 50 and that means I’m not legally allowed to do a comedy show any more. I have to do a travel show.” There is some truth in that, but I don’t care: I really enjoy it.

• David Baddiel on the Silk Road is on the Discovery Channel, Sundays at 9pm

I must give props to our writer Greg Brundage. He foresaw this coming and went on his The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour, which was the inspiration for launching this thread. And he went again recently, so we'll be bringing you more installments of that series very soon.

[GeneChing]

China is spending nearly $1 trillion to rebuild the Silk Road (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/china-is-spending-nearly-1-trillion-to-rebuild-the-silk-road/)
BY VIKRAM MANSHARAMANI March 2, 2016 at 11:02 AM EST

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RTR46W61-1024x683.jpg
An man in ancient Chinese costume walks next to a camel while participating in the Silk Road Cultural Journey, in Jingyang, Shaanxi province September 19, 2014. Organized by Shaanxi government and a local tea company, the journey, started on Friday in Jingyang, Shaanxi province and was expected to finish in Kazakhstan more than a year later. A total of 136 camels, eight horse-drown carriages and more than 100 people in ancient Chinese costumes will travel an estimated 15,000 kilometers (9,321 miles) along the Silk Road with tea leaves while giving performances and promoting the tea products on the way, local media reported. REUTERES/Rooney Chen

An man in ancient Chinese costume walks next to a camel while participating in the Silk Road Cultural Journey, in Jingyang, Shaanxi province September 19, 2014. China is rebuilding the Silk Road. Photo by Rooney Chen/Reuters

Two weeks ago, a 32-container train from Wuyi, China arrived in Tehran, Iran. You might think the arrival of cargo by rail would be no big deal, but in this case you’d be wrong. This was the first journey of its kind between the two cities, and it shortened the typical ship-based travel time by 30 days. This new connection is among the first visible signs of a massive trade network that China is currently constructing across Eurasia. The Silk Route is being rebuilt.

Known as One Belt, One Road, China’s plan to build veins of trade over land and sea into Europe and Asia — announced in 2013 — may be the most significant global economic initiative in the world today, and it’s not getting the attention it deserves in Western media.

The initiative is gigantic, with future investments of almost $1 trillion already announced. In comparison, America spent an inflation-adjusted $130 billion on the Marshall Plan following the World War II. China’s web of trade would span over 60 countries that are home to 4.4 billion people — more than half of the world’s population. Further, the initiative would interact with economies representing more than 40 percent of the world’s GDP. It’s a massive program that has the potential to affect global trade patterns.


One Belt, One Road may be the most significant global economic initiative in the world today.

The initiative is broken into a land component, known as the Silk Road Economic Belt, and a sea component, called the Maritime Silk Road. The “Belt” will consist of a number of corridors connecting China to the far reaches of Eurasia by road and rail. The “Road” will involve the development of ports and shipping routes connecting Chinese harbors to Europe and the South Pacific.

Funding this massive program is not a trivial undertaking. There are a number of institutions on hand to support the funding of China’s grand vision. First, Beijing started a $40 billion “Silk Road Fund” that has already helped fund a hydroelectric power project in Pakistan and invested in a liquefied natural gas project in Russia. Second, there’s the newly created, $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in which China controls 26 percent of the votes. It’s logical to assume it might finance some of these projects. Lastly, the China Development Bank announced in June that it would invest a stunning $890 billion dollars in over 900 One Belt, One Road projects across 60 countries.

So why would China want to deploy capital in this way? After all, doesn’t it face a massive domestic slowdown and potential debt crisis that warrant financial prudence? Why invest abroad aggressively when there are potential domestic needs?

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A map illustrates China’s One Belt, One Road megaproject at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China Jan. 18, 2016. Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters

There appear to be two main reasons: one related to the Chinese slowdown and economic vulnerabilities, the other to geopolitical ambitions in the region.

First, China faces significant overcapacity in its steel and construction sectors. Building roads, ports, rails and other infrastructure will help deploy some of these otherwise idle human and capital resources. Investing abroad might also strengthen the economies of nascent trading partners, thereby securing future demand for Chinese goods and services. There’s also the issue of rising domestic labor costs; better trade networks would help Chinese firms offshore manufacturing more efficiently.

It will also foster greater trade and energy security. The current maritime trade routes, which Chinese goods flow through, are deeply vulnerable — in a time of war, a blockade could crush the economy. The Silk Road initiative will keep markets open for Chinese goods, but also secure China’s access to energy. Last spring, China announced it would support over $20 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan, a potential energy partner. It is also planning a 2,000-mile, high-speed railway from western China to Tehran, in part to gain easier access to the growing supply of Iranian oil.


In addition to bolstering its economic strength, One Belt, One Road will also generate significant geopolitical clout for Beijing.

In addition to bolstering its economic strength, One Belt, One Road will also generate significant geopolitical clout for Beijing throughout Southeast, South and Central Asia as well as the Middle East, parts of Africa and Europe. Just consider the influence China will have in Pakistan. Beijing has already launched a $46 billion infrastructure program in Pakistan, which will double the energy-poor country’s electricity supply. In return, China will secure access to the port of Gwadar, minimizing the time for goods to transit from inland Chinese cities to global markets. Investing in Pakistan will help develop western China.

The Pakistani alliance is particularly useful, since China can use it as a counterweight to India’s influence in the region, and controlling instability in Pakistan through investment might lessen the risk of it spilling into China. Beijing already has growing concerns of restive minorities within China and wants to minimize the likelihood of domestic instability gaining momentum from external sources.

Despite the clear benefits the Chinese strategy seems to offer, it’s not without risk. The Financial Times pointed out that the sheer ambition of the project is part and parcel with the fragmented and often contradictory process of economic policymaking in China. How implementation goes is anyone’s guess.

Further, Chinese inroads abroad could produce international tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled openness to cooperating with the initiative, but it remains to be seen how far he will tolerate Chinese influence in Central Asia.

And the countries that are part of this new Silk Route are not without significant credit risks and political risks. Local instability could undermine investment projects in countries like Pakistan, which is deploying thousands of troops to safeguard China’s investments. The private-intelligence firm Stratfor also points out that the flip side of stronger connections is that they will “provide new routes for the illicit movement of goods and people into China.” Could major Chinese cities emerge as terrorist targets, as New York, Paris and London have in recent years?

Despite this uncertainty, it is particularly unwise to ignore the One Belt, One Road initiative. It just might shape the 21st century as much as the Marshall Plan did the 20th.


Vikram Mansharamani is a lecturer in the Program on Ethics, Politics & Economics at Yale University and a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also the author of “Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst” and is a regular commentator in the financial and business media.

We'll have more on this soon.

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 10: Shifu Arteom and the Tashkent Traditional Wushu Association $ State Museum of the History of Uzbekistan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1287) By Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

We'll drop The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 11 tomorrow. Stay tuned.


Did the Silk Road stretch further than thought? Cloth from funerary mask in Nepal was made with materials from India and China 1,600 years ago (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3524713/Did-Silk-Road-stretch-thought-Cloth-funerary-mask-Nepal-materials-India-China-1-600-years-ago.html?ITO=applenews)

Cloth was found with a gold and silver funerary mask in mountain tombs
The cold dry air in Samdzong, Upper Mustang, had preserved the cloth
Analysis found it contained silk from China and organic dyes from India
It suggests the Silk Road trade route passed far further south than believed

By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:43 EST, 5 April 2016 | UPDATED: 12:48 EST, 5 April 2016

It was the route along which fine cloths, spices and riches flowed between Europe and East Asia for hundreds of years.
But new analysis of textiles and dyes found in a tomb complex in Nepal suggests the Silk Road may have extended further south than previously believed.
Archaeologists found a gold, silver and cloth funerary mask discovered in the Samdzong tomb complex in Nepal had been made with materials from north-east Asia between 400AD and 650AD.

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Analysis of cloth found alongside a gold and silver funerary mask (pictured left) found in the cliff-top tombs close to the village of Samdzong in Upper Mustang, Nepal, showed that it had contained materials from China and India. The cloth (pictured right) suggests the trade route extended south into Nepal in 400 to 650AD

Dr Margarita Gleba, from the University of Cambridge's McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, found the cloth contained degummed silk fibres and Indian dyes.

Dr Gleba said: 'There is no evidence for local silk production suggesting that Samdzong was inserted into the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road.'


TEA LEAVES GIVE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF THE SILK ROAD
The world's oldest tea leaves have been discovered buried with royal treasures in the tomb of an ancient Chinese emperor who ruled more than 2,150 years ago.
Unearthed in the tomb of Jing Emperor Liu Qi, the tea provides some of the earliest evidence for the ancient Silk Road trade route that grew to stretch across Asia from China to Europe.
It appears Emperor Jing, who was the fourth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, enjoyed the drink so much he wanted to be buried with a large supply of tea leaves so he could drink it in the afterlife.
Archaeologists discovered the huge stash of tea buds – or tips - in one of the burial pits that surrounded the mausoleum built for the emperor and his wife in Xi'an, Sha'anxi Province, China.
Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Dr Houyuan Lu, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and his colleagues described also finding similar tea remains in a tomb in Tibet.
They said this also dates to around 200AD, which is the earliest indication tea was being transported along, and traded on, what later became known as the Silk Road.

'The data reinforce the notion that instead of being isolated and remote, Upper Mustang was once a small, but important node of a much larger network of people and places.
'These textiles can further our understanding of the local textile materials and techniques, as well as the mechanisms through which various communities developed and adapted new textile technologies to fit local cultural and economical needs.'
The cloth used in the funerary mask was found to contain silk but also Indian dyes such as munjeet and lac, which suggests the materials had been imported from China and India.
The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade route that ran through central Asia connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea.
It was initially named after the lucrative trade in Chinese silk but other precious items such as jade, gold, silver, bronze and spice were also transported initially between China and Egypt, then later to ancient Greece and Rome and eventually to Medieval Europe.
While many sea route were opened up by sailors to transport goods, merchants crossing overland were thought to have travelled by northern and southern routes that bypassed the Takliamakan Desert in north west China.
The northern route took several paths through Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
The southern route ran through the Karakoram mountains that sit on the border of Pakistan, India and China.
They merged again near Merv in Turkmenistan before continuing west to the south of the Caspian Sea.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/05/17/32DEF6A000000578-3524713-The_researchers_say_their_discovery_suggests_merch ants_travellin-a-37_1459874174381.jpg
The researchers say their discovery suggests merchants travelling the Silk Road (shown in red) had plied their wares far further south than had been initially thought

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/05/15/32DE573400000578-0-image-a-32_1459867683951.jpg
Alongside the funerary mask was some wool that included copper, glass and cloth beads (pictured). Analysis of this showed traces of dyes including Indian lac and munjeet alongside silk from China

But the cloth discovered in the tombs near the village of Samdzong in the Mustang region of Nepal suggest merchants may have also extended their route further south still.
At a height of 13,100ft (4,000 metres), the cloth was exceptionally well preserved alongside the remains of the ancient people who were buried in tombs cut into the mountainside in Samdzong.
The man-made remains were only exposed to view in 2009 when an earthquake caused the façade of the cliff to calve off.
One segment of cloth found in the tombs was made of wool with copper, glass and cloth beads attached to it.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/05/16/32DEB21D00000578-3524713-T-a-35_1459868640292.jpg
The tombs were cut into the cliff face in Upper Mustang (similar caves above a monastery in Lo Manthang, Nepal pictured) more than 13,100ft up, where the dry cold air helped to preserve the cloth

It was found near a coffin of an adult alongside the spectacular gold and silver funerary mask.
The mask has small pinholes around its edges, suggesting it had been sewn to a fabric and was perhaps part of a piece of decorative headwear.
Writing in the journal Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, Dr Gleba and her colleagues explain how analysis found a range of organic dyes on the cloth.
They said turmeric, knotweed indigo, Indian lac and munjeet were all found on the cloth along with cinnabar.
They said: 'The results indicate that locally produced materials were used in combination with those likely imported from afar, including China and India.'

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/05/15/32DE572F00000578-0-image-a-30_1459867659038.jpg
The cloth was found in man-made caves hewn into the mountainside alongside many human remains in Samdzong, close to the border with Tibet (shown above)

[GeneChing]

Drink your way down the Silk Road with Pouring Ribbons' new spring ****tails (http://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/drink-your-way-down-the-silk-road-with-pouring-ribbons-new-spring-****tails-040516)
By Dan Q. Dao
Posted: Tuesday April 5 2016, 10:54am

https://media.timeout.com/images/103233968/750/422/image.jpg
Drink your way down the Silk Road with Pouring Ribbons' new spring ****tails
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

Last fall, the team behind East Village ****tail favorite Pouring Ribbons rejigged the bar's concept, launching the first in a series of creative ****tail menus built around specific themes. That inaugural iteration, a fall menu inspired by America's iconic Route 66, will now give way on April 13th to a springtime drinks list based on the Silk Road, that 2,000-year-old superhighway connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea.

A collaboration between all members of the bar team, including owner-bartender Joaquín Simó, partner Shannon Tebay and head bartender Demario Wallace, the menu comprises 20 continent-traversing sips as diverse as the disparate locales they allude to. Gin lovers can try creative director Amanda Elder's Painted Veil (pictured above), fusing Chinese pu-erh tea with citrusy London dry gin, baijiu and housemade amaro in a tea pot, while whiskey fans can sip barman Sam Johnson's Bread & Circuses, spotlighting Dutch genever in a mix of Ragtime rye whiskey, toasted barley water and Lustau East India Solera sherry.

The new hard-copy menu, brought to life by Elder, will nod to the tapestries, fabrics and textiles traded along the road with traditional patterns and materials. The bar itself will also tout thematic decor, with a colorful backdrop of silk paper fans lining the counter. See below for more photos of Pouring Ribbons' Silk-Road-inspired ****tails and head down next Wednesday to try them.

https://media.timeout.com/images/103233969/image.jpg
Bread & Circuses at Pouring Ribbons
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

https://media.timeout.com/images/103233970/image.jpg
Prophet's Cup at Pouring Ribbons
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

https://media.timeout.com/images/103233972/image.jpg
Way of the Warrior at Pouring Ribbons
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

https://media.timeout.com/images/103233977/image.jpg
Joaquín Simó
Photograph: Eric Medsker


I doubt that they drank these on the Silk Road. They probably just drank fermented camel milk. :p

[GeneChing]

Read The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Continued: Part 11: The Wushu of Young Master Anar Budagli, Tashkent's City Center's Chorsu Bazaar & A Visit to the International Caravanserai of Culture in Tashkent (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1291) By Greg Brundage.

[GeneChing]

Read The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Continued: Part 12: The Road to Ashgabat: Interview with Yazmyrat Annamyradov & a Visit to the Nation Turkmen Kurash (Traditional Wrestling) Training Center (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1292) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

On the Silk Road with Sam Willis (http://www.historyextra.com/article/tv-radio-interviews/silk-road-sam-willis?utm_source=AppleNews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=AppleNews)
In a new BBC Four series Dr Sam Willis reveals how the Silk Road was the world's first global superhighway where people with new ideas, new cultures and new religions made exchanges that shaped humanity. Here, Willis tells BBC History Magazine’s TV editor, Jonathan Wright, about the series, about his experiences travelling to places that were once among the most connected and cosmopolitan in the world, and why we’ve got the Silk Road to thank for rhubarb crumble…

Friday 29th April 2016Submitted by: Emma Mason

http://cdn2.historyextra.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/623px_wide/10866807-low_res-the-silk-road.jpg
Sam Willis’s three-part series The Silk Road airs on BBC Four on Sunday 1 May at 9pm. (BBC/Alastair McCormick)

According to Willis, “The Silk Road cut across borders and broke down the borders in our minds”. It’s a quote that in itself does much to explain why Willis wanted to explore the route, which once linked China’s ancient capital Xian with Venice, and its history…

Q: What was the spark for the series?

A: I have always been interested in undertaking an enormous journey – one that would be almost too difficult to fathom – and to travel as a historian rather than as a tourist. I think that the Silk Road attracted me because of the scale of the challenge: 5,000 miles, so many cultures, so many countries, so many people, so many stories. I am also fascinated by the unknown; I like visiting places and studying parts of history that are entirely new to me.

Q: You had a lot of ground to cover – how did you choose where to spend time?

A: I realised early on that there were certain major building blocks that we could start with. I wanted to emphasise certain major themes: how the Silk Road transported not just goods but ideas, religion, culture, war and peace, and those themes dictated certain locations.

I also wanted to experience the full range of climate – from the hottest desert on earth (in Iran) to the snow-covered mountains of Tajikistan. My favourite place was an extraordinary desert in central China that was like the moon. It was full of grey stones about the size of golf balls.

http://cdn.historyextra.com/sites/default/files/10866788-low_res-the-silk-road.JPG
Dr Sam Willis in China. (BBC/Alastair McCormick)

Q: Perhaps we don’t always realise how connected our forebears were. Did making the journey give you any insights into this?

A: The one major theme that comes out of the programme and of my personal experience is one of connection – and the flip side of that is how isolated we Europeans seem to have been. The countries of central Asia were most aware of what was happening everywhere because of the constant influence of trade, and people coming from both east and west. Above all, the Iranians were and certainly still are most conscious – and proud – of this. They felt as if they were in the centre of the world.

Q: What was it like visiting Iran?

A: It is staggeringly beautiful and the people are so fascinated in their own history and place in the world. They were polite, kind, thoughtful, generous, interested, interesting, charming and funny. They found the idea of a western film crew quite bewildering. “Where are you from?” they would all ask in mild astonishment. The answer, Glasgow (the programme was commissioned out of BBC Arts in Scotland), then confused them even more. I would urge you all to go.

We were there on the day that the sanctions were lifted and there was a tangible sense of excitement and promise, and if I know one thing now it is that the Iranians are endlessly resourceful. They will now make that country even more magical than the bones of it already are.

Q: How difficult was it to get all the necessary permissions to film?

A: This was very difficult. Iran, Uzbekistan and China are three of the most difficult countries for any film crew to access but we stuck to our guns and the gamble paid off. There were one or two major hiccups, not least when we spent a week filming in Tajikistan and were waiting to receive our visas for Uzbekistan, which never arrived. We had no choice but to fly home, with a massive hole in our documentary and very low morale.

Fortunately, a number of weeks later the permissions came through and we made it to Uzbekistan, which meant that we could visit the iconic Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva – places that changed the world as we know it.

Q: Was there a favourite moment during filming?

A: An extraordinary experience was visiting a very remote valley in Tajikistan, the Yaghnob Valley, which is populated by a tribe of people who are related to the Sogdians, who once dominated the Silk Road trade of central Asia but were dominated by countless invading armies and forced to hide in the mountains. These folk – and there are very few of them indeed – still speak Sogdian. To hear them speak is to hear history at least 2,000 years old. It sent a shiver up my spine because the language is dying.

http://cdn.historyextra.com/sites/default/files/10866959-low_res-the-silk-road.JPG
Dr Sam Willis with a Yaghnob family. (BBC/Alastair McCormick)

Q: What other themes does the shows throw up?

A: I like one of the simplest of all examples of the power of the Silk Road. In Venice, on the corner of a house overlooking a canal, is a statue of a man carrying a bag of rhubarb on his back. He is a rhubarb merchant, but rhubarb comes from China. So, although the Silk Road helped spread such world-defining ideas as algebra, paper, printing and gunpowder, it also spread rhubarb: no Silk Road, my friends, no rhubarb crumble.

Sam Willis’s three-part series The Silk Road airs on BBC Four on Sunday 1 May at 9pm.

This looks promising.

[PalmStriker]

:) Wow! I had missed all the posts from April that I was unaware of... have to catch up on some reading ! Ultra-Cool Thread !

[GeneChing]

To be honest, I started this for Greg's articles. He proposed The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour, which he funded himself, in exchange for LORs to get him into the interviews he secured.


China's bold gambit to cement trade with Europe--along the ancient Silk Road (http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-silk-road-20160501-story.html)

http://www.trbimg.com/img-57257a79/turbine/la-la-fg-china-one-belt-jpg-20160430/600/600x338
A cargo train bound for Germany waits in Zhengzhou, China. China's leadership envisions a "New Silk Road" of global economic expansion with such train routes. (New China News Agency)

Julie Makinen and Violet Law

From his office on a bend of the Rhine River, freight terminal boss Bernd Putens can see — and hear — the early stirrings of what China calls the New Silk Road.

The clang-clang of forklifts echoes through his building as 42 containers of cargo are unloaded at the Duisburg Intermodal Terminal, part of the world's largest inland port.

The containers have just arrived on a train from Changsha, China, filled with electronics and other consumer goods, and will return carrying Land Rovers and other European products.

They represent a bold effort by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to extend his country's economic and political clout.

Until four years ago, there was no regular rail service linking China and Germany, and for good reason.

The tracks existed, but at nearly 7,000 miles, the distance is longer than a round trip between Los Angeles and Boston, and trains must switch gauges — a laborious, time-consuming process — as they pass from China into Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. Trains are twice as fast as sea shipment yet twice as expensive, so rail makes sense only for high-value products or goods with short shelf lives.

But two millenniums after traders began ferrying gems, precious metals, fabrics and spices on arduous overland routes linking the Far East with Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, China believes the time is nigh for a modern Silk Road. Leaders in Beijing envision a 21st century version of the path trod by the likes of Marco Polo, starting with locomotives but quickly expanding to encompass roads, pipelines and other infrastructure.

By physically linking itself more tightly with Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, China is aiming to create new markets as growth slows at home while deepening Beijing's influence across Asia and as far away as the Middle East and Europe.

The effort is at the center of Xi's signature political and economic policy initiative, called the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

For two years, Xi has been talking up the sweeping strategy — known collectively as One Belt, One Road, or OBOR — on his frequent trips abroad, while lining up financing plans at home and enlisting the participation of state-run and private companies.

With its expansive ambition, some observers have compared China's grand new endeavor to America's Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II, a game-changing effort that revolutionized trade and recast many long-standing relationships.

It is expected to cost even more than the Marshall Plan, for which the United States spent the equivalent of slightly more than $100 billion in today's money.

"With these initiatives, Beijing, and more particularly, the Chinese Communist Party, seeks to reinforce the emerging global narrative that China is moving to the center of global economic activity, strength and influence," Christopher K. Johnson of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a recent paper analyzing One Belt, One Road.

Markus Taube, a professor of East Asian economic studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, believes the initiative "will strengthen China's economic and diplomatic leverage in Europe and provide a political and diplomatic counterweight against the U.S."

"The more I think about [the strategy], the more it makes sense," he said.

But others are more skeptical, saying China's lofty language around One Belt, One Road masks myriad questions about how much money will be spent on the project and where, and who will benefit.

"It's generated a lot of buzz, but no one is quite sure what it actually means," said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

China's government has set up a $40-billion fund to promote private investment in One Belt, One Road initiatives and is encouraging state-run banks to make loans for projects including power plants, ports, pipelines and railways — to be built overseas, in many cases, by Chinese companies. The Bank of China has announced plans to fund $120 billion of those projects from 2015 to 2019.

In January, the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank officially opened its doors, and the multinational institution is expected to finance tens of billions of dollars' worth of projects that fall under the One Belt, One Road umbrella.

Chinese firms, eager to avail themselves of government financial incentives and align themselves with a key Communist Party priority, are scrambling to get on board and show they're embracing One Belt, One Road.

Although massive ground-up infrastructure projects will take years to come to fruition, the ripple effects of the strategy are already being felt in places like Duisburg.

Xi visited the German city in 2014 to tout the rail project, and since then, interest in China-to-Germany freight has surged. Now Duisburg is receiving one train every day from China, including three to five a week from Chongqing, two a week from Wuhan and one a week from Changsha. There are also weekly trains to Hamburg from Wuhan and Zhengzhou.

"Now it seems every [Chinese] city wants to send its own train," Putens said.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

::

Germany is not the only country welcoming new rail service from the Middle Kingdom. In February, the first train to connect China with Iran arrived in Tehran after traveling 5,900 miles through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The 39-wagon train carried $600,000 worth of clothing, shoes and bags.

China has also pioneered a 16,000-mile round trip between the cities of Yiwu and Madrid. The 82-car train left China full of Christmas decorations, crafts and trinkets, arriving in Spain just before Christmas 2014. The train returned to Yiwu last year hauling olive oil.

Although the train that arrived in Iran originated from China's eastern province of Zhejiang, Chinese officials believe land-locked western Chinese cities such as Urumqi — which is closer to Iran than to Shanghai — could benefit even more substantially from rail links through Central Asia. In that sense, One Belt, One Road is intended to correct an economic imbalance within China, helping goose the development of the nation's western regions, which lag far behind their coastal cousins.

Although the arrivals of the first locomotives in places like Iran and Spain have been greeted with much fanfare, it's not clear if they can blossom into vibrant transportation links and significantly boost trade.

Homayoun Jahani, an executive of the Iranian transportation company Pers, which was involved in arranging the train, said the 14-day journey to Tehran proved the train was a "reliable vehicle" and said plans were already underway to begin monthly service to the port of Bushehr.

But Masoud Daneshmand of the Iran-UAE Chamber of Commerce, said it was "far from being a viable, hustling and bustling railroad."

In Duisburg, port spokesman Julian Boecker said operations have grown increasingly smooth since the first test train from Chongqing in 2011. One-way travel time, which took 18 days at first, now averages 11 to 13 days. Putens said customs clearance in Duisburg has been shortened from two days to two hours.

"As we gained experience in cooperation, efficiency improved," said Boecker, especially in areas such as gauge changes. (While Europe and China have the same gauge width for their tracks, all former Soviet states have wider gauges, so trains have to be adjusted at those borders.) But with the trains now running at 600 miles per day, "it's reaching the limit."

One problem in Germany is that while there are plenty of Chinese goods coming in, finding enough cargo to ship back out hasn't been easy. Empty containers from China are piling up. Port managers are planning to rent a five-acre plot to hold about 2,000 of the metal boxes while Chinese shipping firms figure out how to handle them.

Some do go back full. In addition to Land Rovers, China-bound containers have been packed with Porsches, Audis, auto parts from Ford and Volkswagen plants, steel coils, specialized machinery and milk powder. (Jaded by food safety scandals, Chinese consumers pay handsomely for imported dairy products.)

Putens said his Chinese counterparts had recently requested refrigerated transportation for European wines.

Despite the growth, China rail freight accounted for less than 1% of all cargo handled at Duisburg last year. That's small, said Boecker, but "it is an important symbolic value."

The challenge now is to find better balance between inbound and outbound cargo, and to see if the line can sustain itself without government aid.

"There's economic interest on all sides to keep this rail route alive," said Boecker.

::

Taube, the professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said that for China, the initial volume of trade by rail isn't as crucial as the opportunities it opens up for economic development — and greater political clout — along the route.

"The rail links are the skeletons, but the important flesh will be the industrialization zones along the tracks," he said.

The long-term vision, he believes, is for China to bring manufacturing to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries as labor in China gets more expensive; at the same time, Beijing can build up its economic and diplomatic sphere of influence.

Tom Miller, a China expert with Gavekal Dragonomics, said developing transportation links through Central Asia will give China greater access to natural resources in the region, including oil. Diversifying China's sources of energy and the transportation routes will also make China feel more secure, he said.

Just weeks before the arrival of the train in Tehran, Xi became the first Chinese leader to visit Iran in 14 years, signing treaties on judicial, commercial and civil matters and pledging to boost trade — which stood at $52 billion in 2014 — to $600 billion a year over the next 10 years.

China has announced similar headline-grabbing contract deals in countries including Pakistan and Kazakhstan.

Beyond securing more oil and other resources, Miller said China wants to use One Belt, One Road to boost trade with its western provinces and develop their local economies. And Beijing may be hoping to find new customers for some of its excess steel, cement, heavy equipment and rolling stock, among other things.

China's economy has been slowing, with growth dropping in 2015 to 6.9%, its lowest in several decades.

David Kelly, director of research at the Beijing-based consultancy China Policy, said the envisioned projects of One Belt, One Road are too big and would take too much time to provide any sudden economic benefits for China.

The strategy "is not going to yield strong returns on investment for many years," he said.

Still, unlike many of China's earlier "going out" initiatives that saw Chinese firms encounter friction as they ventured to places such as Africa and South America in search of natural resources, One Belt, One Road is being approached with a greater degree of sophistication and patience, Kelly believes.

"A lot of these ventures will be successful," he predicted. "There's already a smarter feel to a lot of the proposals."

julie.makinen@latimes.com

Times staff writer Makinen reported from Beijing and special correspondent Law from Duisburg. Special correspondent Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran contributed to this report.

I'm glad Greg brought the Silk Road to our attention as it is once again a global frontier. Quite topical in the world view.

[GeneChing]

Greg tells me he's hitting the road again. This is a little teaser in preparation for his next journey.

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour: Part 13: Silk Road's northeast terminal Beijing, the Niujie Masjid, China Islamic Association and Wang Zhengyi, also know as Great Broadsword Wang the Fifth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1301) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

Cambridge University: Parasites hitch ride down Silk Road (http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=88971#.V5ZeSrgrKUk)

http://artdaily.com/imagenes/2016/07/24/silk-2.jpg
2,000-year-old personal hygiene sticks with remains of cloth, excavated from the latrine at Xuanquanzhi. Photo: Hui-Yuan Yeh.

PARIS (AFP).- Merchants plying the ancient Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean moved more than gold, fabrics, spices and tea -- they also exported gut parasites, researchers said Friday.

It has long been theorised that the Silk Road helped spread bubonic plague, leprosy, anthrax and other infectious diseases between East Asia, the Middle East and Europe -- though concrete archaeological evidence has been scant.

But now analysis of the contents of an ancient latrine along the route has revealed evidence that traders 2,000 years ago did indeed spread disease.

The team from Britain and China examined faeces preserved on wood and bamboo sticks wrapped in cloth -- the toilet paper of their day -- that were excavated in 1992 at the Xuanquanzhi pit stop in north-west China.

Unearthed from a latrine dating back to 111 BC, during China's Han Dynasty, and which was still in use in 109 AD, seven samples yielded eggs from four types of parasite: roundworm, whipworm, tapeworm and Chinese liver fluke, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

The fluke, a parasite that causes pain, diarrhoea, jaundice and liver cancer, needs wet, marshy areas to complete a life cycle, whereas Dunhuang is in an arid area on the edge of the desert.

"The liver fluke could not have been endemic in this dry region," said a statement from Cambridge University, whose researchers took part in the study.

"In fact, based on the current prevalence of the Chinese liver fluke, it's closest endemic area to the latrine's location in Dunhuang (in north-west China) is around 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) away, and the species is most common in Guandong Province -- some 2,000 km from Dunhuang."

Xuanquanzhi in Dunhuang was a popular stopping place for merchants, explorers, soldiers and government officials.

"Finding evidence for this species (liver fluke) in the latrine indicates that a traveller had come here from a region of China with plenty of water, where the parasite was endemic," said study co-author Piers Mitchell.

"This proves for the first time that travellers along the Silk Road really were responsible for the spread of infectious disease along this route in the past."

The Silk Road is so called for perhaps the most famous commodity that crossed its inter-connected network of trade routes criss-crossing Eurasia.

Not to be too crass, but how the heck do you wipe your ass with that? :confused:

;):p

[PalmStriker]

:confused: Don't want to guess , LOL ! The toilet paper of the day is what civilization was all about. Life without laptops, cellphones or Charmin. :)

[GeneChing]

The Journey Continues. Read The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 14: Interview with Azer “Mallem,” President of the Azerbaijan Wushu Federation & Azerbaijan Muay Thai-Thaiboxing Federation, “Zorkhana” - The House of Force & Strength (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1320) by Greg Brundage.

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 15: Visit to the Georgian Wushu Federation Summer Camp in Kobuleti and Interview with Federation President and Taolu Head Coach Giorgi Verulidze, their Sanda Head Coach Lasha Sumbulashvili and some Junior National Team members (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1321) by Greg Brundage.

[GeneChing]

The thing is, it's not about silk anymore.


China's 'New Silk Road' brings great promise to eastern Europe (http://www.dw.com/en/chinas-new-silk-road-brings-great-promise-to-eastern-europe/a-36271021?maca=en-gk_volltext_AppleNews_world-16397-xml-atom)

http://www.dw.com/image/19146937_303.jpg
From roads in Montenegro to industrial parks in Poland, China has become one of the biggest investors in eastern and southeastern Europe. The Beijing-led "16+1" initiative promises to boost cooperation with the region.
Tschechien Staatsbesuch Xi Jinping und Milos Zeman (picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Krumphanzl)

Xi Jinping visited the Czech Republic earlier this year
In the past 25 years, there have been a number of international platforms focusing on Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). However, few have been as comprehensive and ambitious as the Beijing-led initiative dubbed "16+1," which brings together 16 post-socialist countries, eleven of which are European Union member states and five of which are in different stages of accession. China is aiming to promote "pragmatic cooperation" across a number of policy areas, with the goal of making the most out of CESEE's untapped economic potential.
On November 5, leaders from China and CESEE countries will hold their fifth-annual summit in Riga. The high-level talks are accompanied by business forums, think-tank conferences and other sideline events. Beyond the summit, there have been a vast array of gatherings under the 16+1 framework that involved various branches of government, academia and business. Delegations of CESEE representatives are now regularly flown to China and vice versa.
New era of cooperation
The increased interaction has been an unlikely development. Only few years ago, contact between the two sides was limited and far from enthusiastic. In the 1990s and early 2000s, many CESEE governments pursued ideological anti-communist diplomacy, which was not fond of closer ties with China. Since then, as elsewhere in the EU, political issues have been pushed to the side, allowing economic diplomacy to flourish. Today, Sino-CESEE relations are said to be at their highest point since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, when CESEE countries were among the first to recognize it - a fact that Beijing considers to be of special symbolic significance.
Chinese policymakers and experts say that in 2016, China-CESEE relations are ready to move beyond the initial phase of rapprochement. Earlier this year Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Czech Republic, Serbia and Poland - signifying the increased importance Beijing is placing on the region.
16+1 has also become a crucial part of China's "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), also known as the "New Silk Road." Rooted in both its domestic imperatives (developing western Chinese regions and exporting overcapacity) as well as the thirst for capital across Asia, Africa and Europe, the BRI pushes for coordinated development and policy, promotes investment in infrastructure and financial integration and calls for "civilizational dialogue."
In practice, the 16+1 cooperation has, in only a few years, led to a significant increase in the economic importance of CESEE for China and vice versa. In 2015, for example, China had almost as much total trade volume with the bloc of 16 as it had with Russia. Investments from both Chinese and state-owned enterprises have gradually increased. A number of transport infrastructure projects - including the Budapest-Belgrade high-speed rail line, a leg of the "China-Europe Land-Sea Express" from Hungary to Greece - are underway.
Living up to its potential
However, aside from these achievements, the overall impression is that 16+1 has yet to live up to its full potential. Much more is being promised and projected than actually delivered. The economic cooperation between China and CESEE nations is still dwarfed by China's partnership with the rest of the EU.
Sino-CESEE relations have had to adjust to the "new normal" of the Chinese economy, which now grows at a rate of around 6.5 percent. CESEE countries, which often lack resources and experience, have struggled to keep up with the pace that China has set under the comprehensive 16+1 format. Domestic, regional and European-wide political circumstances are also limiting. Thus, for China too, the early stages of cooperation have been a learning experience. Unlike their CESEE counterparts, however, Chinese policymakers pace themselves for the long run - often milestones are set for the decades to come.
The summit in Riga will provide an opportunity for Chinese and CESEE leaders to take stock of current developments and announce future measures and areas of cooperation. In a time when the EU faces multiple crises, from the rise of destructive political forces to increasing tensions between Russia and NATO, the 16+1 summit provides a rare opportunity to map out visions for global economic renewal. It is also understandable that sometimes the progress is slower than expected.
Anastas Vangeli is a doctoral researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, and a Claussen-Simon PhD Fellow of the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius.

[GeneChing]

Greg Brundage continues his Kung Fu quest along the Silk Road. Read The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 16: Interview with Abdurrahman Akyuz, President of the Turkish Wushu Federation and Fathomless Histories in Ankara, Bursa and Istanbul (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1334).

[GeneChing]

Why the New Silk Road needs a digital revolution (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/china-new-silk-road-bumpy-ride?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+inside-the-world-economic-forum+%28Inside+The+World+Economic+Forum%29&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner)

https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_k2MPlTJPKt4_nsVqgDYF9hb3lqGZzWN8qjsFEHvmcbI. jpg
Kazakhstan looks set to become a major trading hub between China and Europe
Image: REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

Written by
Mark Gottfredson
Partner, Bain & Company
Wolfgang Lehmacher
Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries, World Economic Forum
Gerry Mattios
Expert Vice President , Bain & Company

Published Friday 13 January 2017

This article is part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017

The ancient and historic trade route between China and Europe is coming back to life as one of the biggest infrastructure projects of the 21st century, with major implications for economies throughout the world.

One Belt/One Road (OBOR), the all-encompassing effort to restore old trade routes and streamline the transport of goods from Asia to Europe, has already received more than $51 billion from China, and more than 100 countries have signed on, with free trade, collaboration agreements or other partnerships.

The expected benefits are well known: 70,000 new jobs, vastly improved economies of countries such as Kazakhstan, and opportunities for small and medium enterprises, both from Asia and Europe, to enter new markets that today may not be easily accessible. But achieving that potential means overcoming four major obstacles: the slow speed with which goods now travel, the inconsistency of customs clearance, the high costs for everything from labour to logistics delays, and the lack of visibility into the status of goods making their way along the New Silk Road.

When companies ship by air they only need to deal with the red tape of customs and inspections at the beginning and end of a journey. Ground transportation is less expensive, but it stalls each time you cross a border. Products not only move slowly but are also subject to increased costs, including potentially moving from one truck or train to another. There are also tariffs, arbitrary delays and possible system manipulation.

https://assets.weforum.org/editor/0RCDGR9fczM7UX_yoJ4RMUoKw2SN-R3yRi5nXarhjZs.png
Image: The Wall Street Journal

However, if OBOR operated with a single unified customs system and effective methods of tracking the products on board, shipments could move smoothly across boundaries – replicating the efficiency of air shipments with the low cost of land transport.

Fortunately, the solutions exist to help OBOR reach its full potential with technologies that improve infrastructure inefficiencies, connect people and create new opportunities. Companies could achieve real time supply chain visibility by deploying low-cost satellites with access by iPhones or other handheld devices, for example.

Another move that could dramatically help is if the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) introduced a standard customs procedure for OBOR freight by consolidating requirements and developing a common IT platform.

For OBOR countries, the path to an efficient and cost-effective New Silk Road begins by systematically addressing the four pain points of the digital supply chain. Here are some ways to begin.

•Speed: Companies could smooth shipments and make better use of resources by installing state-of-the-art warehouse and inventory management systems, including capacity planning and supplier collaboration.

•Inconsistency: Countries could implement systems that standardize the clearance of goods while using common templates and replacing human decision-making with speedy Artificial Intelligence processes.

•Costs: Companies could reduce labour costs and shipment-delay costs, with automation replacing such activities as loading and unloading.

•Visibility: New advances such as digital ledger technology (DLT) could provide structured, real time tracking information to allow stakeholders to know when a shipment will arrive and to plan operations in advance.

By investing in the IT infrastructure needed to address these four pain points, companies and countries will generate basic data, which, as it matures and gets structured, becomes invaluable when accumulated as big data. These are complex data sets that can be collected and analysed for insights that serve as a starting point for improving everything, from operations to the development of services, even allowing companies to transform their business models for greater success.

With such systems in place, a few key areas of opportunity will emerge along the New Silk Road. First, a digital revolution will level the playing field for SMEs. For example, they’ll be able to adapt production plans to product supply and demand dynamics or identify new markets.

The sharing economy will also blossom. With the right IT in place, on-demand manufacturing and warehouse management platforms could connect makers with factories. A sharing economy inspired by big data will create significant employment opportunities in OBOR countries.

Finally, big data will attract more direct investment in OBOR countries from foreign sources. The money is already flowing to seed Kazakhstan’s growth. For example, Dubai-based port operator DP World is expected to invest $1 billion in the development of Khorgos-Eastern Gates Free Zone and Aktau Port in Kazakhstan.

Foreign direct investment in new technology will also broaden the economic base of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries along the New Silk Road. They could leverage such advances as 3D printing to develop their manufacturing industries. Smart manufacturing technologies would enable SMEs to make more of their money from selling intellectual property than from shipping end products to customers.

The revived railway, combined with wise technology investments, creates exciting prospects. Imagine how half-empty container cars travelling across a desert in Central Asia could advertise their available space in real time – and at a discount – connecting en route with potential shippers looking for a low-cost way to send their wares. Centuries after it was established, the New Silk Road could define the future of trade between East and West – but only if it first overcomes the four big obstacles in its path.


Kazakhstan. A Kung Fu brother put this place on the map for me when he fought an early MMA bout there decades ago.

[GeneChing]

Exclusive: China 'Silk Road' project in Sri Lanka delayed as Beijing toughens stance (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-silkroad-sri-lanka-exclusive-idUSKBN15U2VM?utm_source=applenews)

http://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20170215&t=2&i=1172848859&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=780&pl=468&sq=&r=LYNXMPED1E1OG
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrator shout at police officers at a protest against the launching of a $5 billion Chinese investment zone by China Merchants Port Holdings Company, in Mirijjawila, Sri Lanka January 7, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

By Shihar Aneez | COLOMBO

China will delay a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day "Silk Road" until Sri Lanka clears legal and political obstacles to a related project, sources familiar with the talks said, piling more pressure on the island nation.

Heavily indebted Sri Lanka needs the money, but payment for China's interests in Hambantota port could be held up by several weeks or months, the sources added.

After signing an agreement last December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to buy an 80 percent stake in the southern port before an initial target date of Jan. 7.

Beijing also has a separate understanding with Colombo to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone in the same area, a deal that Sri Lanka was hoping to finalize later.

But Colombo's plans to sell the stake and acquire land for the industrial zone have run into stiff domestic opposition, backed by trade unions and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

A legislator close to Rajapaksa is also challenging the government's plans in court.

Now Beijing has linked the signing of the port deal with an agreement to develop the industrial zone, saying it would hold off on both until Colombo resolved domestic issues, officials on both sides of the talks said.

"China has said that when they start the port, they want the land also," Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said, although he added that China had not made it a precondition.

Yi Xianliang, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, said the two deals were related.

"If we just have the port and no industrial zone, what is the use of the port? So you must have the port and you must have the industrial zone," he said.

A source familiar with China's thinking said it may wait until May, when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing, to sign both deals.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the Hambantota project was important for both countries.

"As far as we understand, at present the project is still progressing steadily," he told reporters in Beijing.

The previously unreported setback for Sri Lanka suggests Beijing is digging in its heels as it negotiates its global "One Belt, One Road" initiative to open up new land and sea routes for Chinese goods.

SPEED BUMPS, MOUNTING DEBTS

President Maithripala Sirisena is struggling to contain popular opposition to land acquisition for the huge Chinese industrial zone, including from Rajapaksa, who remains an influential opposition legislator.

The deal for the port development and industrial zone has also been challenged in court, which means it is stuck at least until the next hearing on March 3.

Asked whether the agreement would be delayed until the court had ruled, Yi, the Chinese ambassador, said: "Oh yes. We will follow the rule of law. We have the patience to wait."

Rajapaksa's role, the court case and violent protests by people afraid they could be evicted from their land underlined how Beijing does not always get its own way even in countries that badly need investment. Sri Lanka wants Chinese money to help alleviate its debt burden; the government had expected to have the proceeds from the stake sale within six months of signing the agreement before Jan. 7.

Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to cut its deficit, shore up foreign exchange reserves and increase tax revenues as part of a $1.5 billion loan agreement struck in 2016. At least part of the money from the port deal would have gone toward paying down some of the more expensive loans on the government's books, some of which are from China, a senior Sri Lankan government official said.

Hambantota port and a nearby airport were built from 2008 by the Rajapaksa government with the help of $1.7 billion in Chinese loans.

When Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in an upset victory in 2015, he froze all Chinese investments, alleging unfair dealings by his predecessor.

Sirisena eventually negotiated a new deal with the Chinese government that involved the stake sale and further plans for the Chinese to develop an industrial zone.

The Chinese government expects to invest about $5 billion to develop the area within 3-5 years. Sirisena also agreed to give land to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. The terms did not go down well with port trade unions, which have asked the government to reduce the Chinese stake to 65 percent and lease period to 50 years.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in January when a demonstration against the planned industrial zone turned violent.

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal, and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paritosh Bansal) 99-year lease. That sounds familiar.

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 17: Amazing Pakistan: Interview with Wushu Master Noor Ahmed Saqib & Visit to the Ancient Metropolis and Silk Road Junction of Taxila (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1350) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 18
Interview with Pakistan Wushu Federation President Malik Iftikhar Ahmed in Lahore and Two of his Teams, Visit to the Truly Ancient Metropolis of Mohenjoy Daro and the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1355)
by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

For those of you who have some sense of what globalization means and have been following this thread.


China is hosting a summit on the new 'Silk Road' — a massive global trade project (http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-china-hosts-summit-on-new-silk-road-2017-5)
Laurent Thomet, AFP
May 13, 2017, 3:51 PM
http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/591761145124c9f413fd8d53-800/afp-china-hosts-summit-on-new-silk-road.jpg
President Xi Jinping will host leaders from 29 nations in Beijing for a two-day forum on his signature foreign policy programme, a revival of the Silk Road dubbed the One Belt, One Road Initiative © AFP/File Fred DUFOUR

Beijing (AFP) - China opens on Sunday a summit to promote its massive global trade infrastructure project, highlighting Beijing's ambitions to spearhead a new era of globalisation as Washington shifts toward inward-looking policies.

President Xi Jinping will host leaders from 29 nations in Beijing for a two-day forum on his signature foreign policy programme, a revival of the Silk Road dubbed the One Belt, One Road Initiative.

The Chinese-bankrolled project, unveiled in 2013, seeks to link the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.

The initiative spans some 65 countries representing 60 percent of the world population and around a third of global gross domestic product. The China Development Bank has earmarked $890 billion for some 900 projects.

Belt and Road is seen as a practical solution to relieve China's industrial overcapacity. But it could also serve Beijing's geopolitical ambitions.

"In my view, Belt and Road is intended to create greater economic interdependence between China and its neighbours, which Beijing hopes will translate into increased political influence," said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Xi Jinping wants China to become the dominant regional power in an essentially Sino-centric order," Glaser told AFP.

The Chinese government describes the initiative as a partnership.

"What we need is not a hero that acts alone, but partners of cooperation that stick together," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said recently.

One-way street?

State-run media has worked hard to explain the project to the world.

The English-language newspaper China Daily has bombarded social media with quirky videos, including an American father telling his daughter bedtime stories about Xi's programme and children singing, "We'll share the goodness now, the Belt and Road is how."

But few Western leaders are attending the event. The prime ministers of Italy, Spain and Greece are expected, while Washington is sending a senior White House adviser.

Xi is championing globalisation at a time when the concept's traditional leader, the United States, is focused on "America First" under US President Donald Trump. The two countries, however, sealed a deal Friday for China to export cooked poultry to America and resume US beef imports.

Europe, meanwhile, is mired in Britain's looming EU exit.

"The structure of the global economy is changing. ... In this situation we want to be completely open and outward looking," said Zhang Xueliang, economics professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

At the same time, the European Union has pressed China to practise what it preaches and further open its own market.

"Hopefully (Belt and Road) is not a one-way street but a two-way," said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European chamber of commerce in Beijing.

Indian concerns

Other leaders attending the summit include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Among neighbours, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and a delegation from North Korea are coming.

But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not confirm his attendance.

India has voiced displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed at linking northwestern China to the Arabian Sea.

The route cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that India claims is illegally occupied.

Human Rights Watch raised concerns on Saturday about the treatment of people along the new Silk Road route in Central Asian nations with poor track records in infrastructure projects.

The US-based organisation said Chinese authorities have "heightened surveillance and repression to prevent potential unrest that could impede" Belt and Road plans in the western Xinjiang region.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdPK1v0UxqQ

I now understand OBOR - it's about the metaphor of the The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road), but still, I will never understand China (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62318-I-will-never-understand-China).

[mickey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdPK1v0UxqQ

I now understand OBOR - it's about the metaphor of the The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road), but still, I will never understand China (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62318-I-will-never-understand-China).


Greetings,

I will have to raise you one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONjMiLMw66g


mickey

[GeneChing]

http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/client_media/images/xpanda1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.ugVuLghuJN.webp

China embraces Kung Fu Panda Power to electrify its new Silk Road (http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/china-embraces-kung-fu-panda-power-electrify-its-n/)
4 July 2017 | By Joe Quirke

A solar farm made to look like a giant panda has been connected to the grid in the city of Datong in China’s northern Shanxi province. It will be the first of 100 panda-shaped solar farms that will follow China’s modern Silk Road.

The 50MW Panda Power Plant covers a total area of 248 acres, with the black part of the panda composed of monocrystalline silicone and the grey and white parts made of thin film solar cells.

The panda in the photos of the solar farm bears a resemblance to the panda cubs from Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda films.

Designed to improve “youth engagement and innovation” the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and China Merchants New Energy say they will “work together to promote and popularise the promotion of new energy through summer camps and open innovation design contests”.

http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/client_media/imagecontent/xpanda2_1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-PMCSKJgKb.webp
Image courtesy of Panda Green Energy

The camp “will offer participants a deeper understanding of green energies and first-hand experience of environmental protection, with top notch mentors and facilitators in the field to monitor and provide on-site support”.

The UNDP “will identify outstanding, marginalised youth groups in China to develop and strengthen their leadership skills through an international exchange initiative”.

There are plans over the next five years build 100 similar plants along the new Silk Road, with some being built outside China.

http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/client_media/imagecontent/x846panda3.jpg.pagespeed.ic.8mM120vPwd.webp
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Johann Balleis

On the subject of pandas, in March this year China announced that it would link up 67 existing reserves to increase the population of wild bears, creating a space three times the size of America’s Yellowstone National park.

In 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature removed pandas from the endangered species list, they are now listed as “vulnerable”.

Recently the European Investment Bank supported China’s Silk Road strategy and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged an extra $122bn for international infrastructure schemes as part of the development.

Top image courtesy of the UNDP

Kung Fu Panda (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?60650-Kung-Fu-Panda-3) meets the Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)

[GeneChing]

The ‘Silk Road’ Verdict Why China's massive infrastructure plan won't measure up to economic reality (http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2269520-the-silk-road-verdict/) By Valentin Schmid, Epoch Times | July 20, 2017 AT 10:54 AM Last Updated: July 20, 2017 2:18 pm

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Chinese workers at a pier in Qingdao, China, on April 13, 2017. The Belt and Road Initiative is supposed to boost trade both by land and by sea. (STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)


The idea, at first, sounded good: Plow trillions of dollars into infrastructure projects in the barren wasteland that is most of central Asia, and trade will start to bloom, economies will prosper, and peace will reign. However, most experts believe real world problems will result in the whole idea turning into nothing but a pipe dream.

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/NYEET20170721A01.jpg
(VCG/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES)
The concept is called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt, One Road, launched by Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping in March 2015. It has two elements: one landlocked route from China to Europe through Asia, called the Silk Road Economic Belt, and one seaborne route going from China to Europe past India and Africa, called the Maritime Silk Road.

Although estimates vary, China has called for up to $5 trillion in infrastructure investments over the next five years in the 65 countries along these routes. Ports in Sri Lanka, railways in Thailand, and massive roads and power plants in Pakistan are just a few examples of the planned investments.

Speaking at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in May this year, Xi said: “In pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative, we should focus on the fundamental issue of development, release the growth potential of various countries, and achieve economic integration and interconnected development, and deliver benefits to all.”

His statement sums up the problems with the multitrillion dollar project: It talks about desirable outcomes but is exceedingly vague on the details. This is just like the BRI’s official plans. They call for improving intergovernmental communication, coordinating infrastructure plans, developing soft infrastructure, and strengthening tourism and trade, but the specifics are shaded over.

“There are no concrete action items set out in the Chinese government’s action plan for what has become one of Xi’s most visible policy initiatives. The document contains a number of generic proposals interspersed with platitudes about cooperation and understanding,” research firm Geopolitical Futures states in a July report.

But despite the lack of concrete programs, the vast sums involved show that the BRI has garnered support from many countries. China-led institutions, like the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, have also pledged $269 billion dollars for the project. Even Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced his support at the recent G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.


It is completely overhyped. The numbers they published, $4 trillion to $5 trillion, they are completely unrealistic.
— Christopher Balding, professor of economics, Peking University
Objectives Measured Against Reality
China’s objectives, explicit and implicit, need to be measured against reality. On this account, most experts think the project is not economically viable—but it will allow China to gain political influence.

“It is completely overhyped. The numbers they published, $4 trillion to $5 trillion, they are completely unrealistic,” said Christopher Balding, professor of economics at Peking University.

Economically, it is mostly about investment and exports. “China has surplus capital and excess productive capacity, which is motivating this set of initiatives. With a high savings rate in China and a slowdown in industrial investment at home, they are looking for overseas projects that can be financed and a new outlet for Chinese exports,” said James Nolt, professor of international relations at New York University.

The result is the BRI, which would see China team up with countries along the routes to raise money for building infrastructure to facilitate trade. And Chinese companies would do the construction.

The China Overseas Ports Holding Company has expanded the Gwadar Port in Pakistan and has an operating lease until 2059. This is just the first, small step in connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt with the Maritime Silk Road. Highways, pipelines, power plants, optical connections, and railways are planned for the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, with a total investment of $62 billion.

Of course, local and international companies are going to bid for these projects as well, but with China providing most of the funds, Chinese state owned enterprises (SOEs) will get most of the contracts.

If Chinese companies got $5 trillion in contracts, this would indeed boost exports, but there are several problems with this notion even in theory.

First, infrastructure projects are very resource intensive, and with few exceptions China simply doesn’t produce commodities. Much of the value-added, therefore, will be absorbed by international commodity producers like Australia (though the Chinese steel industry will certainly get a boost).

Impossible to Finance
Then there is the question of financing these investments. The countries where the investments are going to take place, like Pakistan and Cambodia, don’t have the money to spend trillions and also can’t raise it in international financial markets. This leaves China to come up with a way to get the hard currency financing to achieve its economic goals.

At the beginning of the BRI, China still had almost $4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, and it was looking to diversify. These have dropped to $3 trillion in 2017, a threshold the central planners in Beijing have made clear they will not cross.

“They have to tap international bond markets for that money, or they have to exhaust their foreign exchange reserves and even then go out and borrow. Even by global bond market standards, a $5 trillion bond sales program spread out over a couple of years is an enormous number. They are not going to shoulder that type of repayment risk and they are not going to deplete their reserves,” said Balding.

Research by investment bank Natixis estimates that such a borrowing binge would increase Chinese external debt from 12 percent to 50 percent of GDP. This would expose the country to exchange rate risks and put it in the same vulnerable position that the Asian tiger economies were in during the financial crisis of 1998.

Loans from China denominated in yuan from Chinese banks are not an option for two reasons. This “poses its own risks to the overly stretched balance sheets of Chinese banks. In fact, their doubtful loans have done nothing but increase during the last few years, which is eating up the banks’ room to lend further,” especially for risky projects, wrote Natixis Chief Economist for the Asia Pacific Alicia García-Herrero, in a blog post.

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/silk3.jpg

In addition, recipient countries could only pay back a loan in yuan by selling goods and services to China, thus procuring the Chinese currency. This would be directly counterproductive to the goal of promoting exports from China with construction contracts and eventually through improved trade infrastructure.

“How is Pakistan to repay a yuan loan? They are going to generate a trade surplus in yuan. So China has to run a trade deficit with all the countries it lends to. Even if they don’t do that, Pakistan is going to have to generate some type of trade surplus with another country to have enough capital to pay back China,” said Balding.

Given that most of the infrastructure will be built to facilitate trade with China, this is highly unlikely. So in the end, China will be left to vendor finance these projects. The only way to achieve its economic objectives will be hard currency loans that are completely repaid, with interest—which China currently has no clear means of financing.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Bad Risks
All of the economic indicators regarding the most prominent BRI projects point against this repayment scenario.

There is a reason countries like Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, and Mongolia don’t have good infrastructure. They have a generally poor macroeconomic framework, underdeveloped institutions, and a high degree of corruption. Building roads and railways will not change that.

Additionally, “Central Asia, a patchwork of states whose borders were drawn to make the countries more easily controlled from Moscow during the Soviet era, is hardly a promising market for Chinese goods,” states the Geopolitical Futures report.

“People talk about [the BRI] as if China is giving away money. In almost every case, it’s the Chinese credit card company giving a credit card to a despotic dictator, like in Sri Lanka or Venezuela. None of that has ended well,” said Balding.

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/silk4.jpg

The nature of the value proposition of the BRI leads to the worst countries needing the most infrastructure and the most financing. Economically stable and healthy countries like Malaysia and Vietnam need less investment than troubled states like the Kyrgyz Republic and civil war-torn Ukraine. These countries have an economic health ranking of 44 and 38.2, respectively, compared to Malaysia’s 66.8, according to a ranking by Oxford Economics.

“Where financial development is relatively weak and governments are heavily indebted, BRI financing will be crucial,” states the report by Oxford Economics. It is precisely these places that offer the lowest chance of repayment.

“While a new airport or railway can be built in just a few years, amassing the human and institutional capital needed for them to operate efficiently and contribute to economic and social progress is a slower process,” states a report by research firm TS Lombard.

Small Scope
Given the constraints in viable economic projects as well as available financing, the scope of the BRI will likely remain small, while China can still focus on its political objective to exert greater influence over the participating countries.

“What this leaves us with is a much more modest program of $15 billion to $30 billion a year,” commensurate with the $269 billion already pledged by the China-led institutions, Balding said. “I don’t want to say that it’s irrelevant, but it is irrelevant. The United States is spending $300 billion in direct investment every year overseas.”

One of the initiatives that makes sense but needs little infrastructure and investment is protecting ships from pirates. “The cooperation with Singapore to keep the sea-lanes safe is promising, and that would have happened either way,” said Nolt.

While Chinese propaganda is touting that the BRI will revive the spirit of the ancient Silk Road through central Asia to Europe, it may have missed the boat on that one.

Given advances in shipping technology, it is far easier and cheaper to transport goods by ship rather than by land. That’s why most of China’s and the world’s trade (80 percent) is done by sea.

In the end, keeping out pirates and building a few ports in Pakistan and East Africa is a worthwhile endeavor—but it’s one that falls far short of building trillions worth of landlocked infrastructure.

“The Silk Road was a constantly evolving marketplace that moved goods across a vast continent where they could be exchanged for other goods. And unlike today, Eurasia was the center of world civilization, home to the most important economies,” states the Geopolitical Futures report.

Today, the most important economy, also for China, is the United States, and it is best reached by sea through the Pacific Ocean, far away from the Maritime Silk Road and the One Belt.

CHINESE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN ASIA

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/NYEET20170721A11_Page_1_Image_0001-1500x1048.jpg
BOATS AT THE GWADAR PORT IN PAKISTAN ON THE ARABIAN SEA. China Overseas Ports Holding Company is leasing the port until 2059 and has already started expanding it. China has been looking to secure sea trading lanes along the so-called Maritime Silk Road, and the Pakistani port is an important piece in the puzzle. (J. PATRICK FISCHER/CC BY-SA)

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/NYEET20170721A11_Page_1_Image_0002.jpg
A SKY TRAIN IN BANGKOK ON MARCH 20, 2013. Thailand will borrow a total of $69.5 billion to fund high-speed railways and other transportation mega projects, with most of the money coming from China and Chinese companies providing the construction. Thailand’s railways will form part of the Kunming– Singapore railway system. However, Thailand will repay the loans with rice and rubber exports, thus running a trade surplus with China and going against the objective to generate export growth. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

http://img.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2017/07/20/NYEET20170721A11_Page_1_Image_0003.jpg
THE BANKS OF THE IRRAWADDY RIVER IN BURMA ON OCT. 2, 2015. Although not officially part of the Belt and Road Initiative, the $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project is an example of a Chinese infrastructure project in a very poor country that hasn’t gone as planned. Construction has been suspended for six years, as both countries could not agree on how to proceed. (YE AUNG THU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A lot of criticism has come out in the press on this lately.

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1365): Through the Eye of the Camel - The Secrets of Ancient Kung Fu in China's Mogao Caves, Western Frontier Fortresses and the Gobi Desert by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

Greg Brundage's Silk Road Journey continues. The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 20: Through the Eye of the Camel - Dunhuang Museum and Mosque, and White Horse Temple (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1373).

[GeneChing]

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 21: The Noble Martial Art Legacy of Qatar (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1379) by Greg Brundage

[GeneChing]

'Road blocks' would've been better than 'buffers'. Sorry, it's the publisher in me. :o


China’s Silk Road revival hits the buffers (https://www.24matins.uk/topnews/headline/chinas-silk-road-revival-hits-the-buffers-30521)
Par Sam Reeves, with Dessy Sagita in Walini, Indonesia, publié le 12 November 2017 à 4h41.
5 minutes

https://media.24matins.uk/2017/11/d5dea9fddd61c63e3dc03083a32c4cfd4145f9d0-660x392.jpg
The 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, unveiled by Xi in 2013, envisages linking China with Africa, Asia and Europe through a network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks© AFP/File JANEK SKARZYNSKI

From a stalled Indonesian rail project to an insurgency-threatened economic corridor in Pakistan, China‘s push to revive Silk Road trade routes is running into problems that risk tarnishing the economic crown jewel of Xi Jinping’s presidency.

The “One Belt, One Road” initiative, unveiled by Xi in 2013, envisages linking China with Africa, Asia and Europe through a network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.

Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, has pushed the infrastructure drive which is central to his goal of extending Beijing’s economic and geopolitical clout.

The initiative was enshrined in the Communist Party’s constitution at a key congress last month, and some estimates say more than $1 trillion has been pledged to it, with projects proposed in some 65 countries.

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China’s President Xi Jinping has pushed the infrastructure drive which is central to his goal of extending Beijing’s economic and geopolitical clout© POOL/AFP/File Mark Schiefelbein

But on the ground it has run into problems. Projects traverse insurgency-hit areas, dictatorships and chaotic democracies, and face resistance from both corrupt politicians and local villagers.

“Building infrastructure across countries like this is very complicated,” said Murray Hiebert, from Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who has studied some of the projects in Southeast Asia.

“You’ve got land issues, you have to hammer out funding agreements, you have to hammer out technological issues.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying however insisted the initiative was “moving forward smoothly”.

Troubled train line

Beijing won the contract to build Indonesia’s first high-speed railway in September 2015, but more than two years later work has barely started on the route from Jakarta to the city of Bandung.

A recent visit to Walini, where President Joko Widodo broke ground on the train line in January last year, found excavators flattening land but no track laid for the train, which is meant to start operating in 2019.

“The first year after the ground-breaking ceremony, I did not see any progress at all,” Neng Sri, a 37-year-old food stall owner from nearby Mandala Mukti village, told AFP.

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Chinese infrastructure projects traverse insurgency-hit areas, dictatorships and chaotic democracies, and face resistance from both corrupt politicians and local villagers© AFP/File ADEK BERRY

The central problem has been persuading villagers to leave their land on the proposed route, which is often an issue in the chaotic, freewheeling democracy.

The Indonesian transport ministry declined to give an update on the project and the consortium of Chinese and Indonesian companies building the line did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

On another planned high-speed line from southern China to Singapore, the Thai stretch of the railway was delayed by tussles over financing and protective labour regulations, and it was only in July that the military government finally approved $5.2 billion to start construction.

Work is under way on the 415-kilometre (260-mile) part of the line in Laos, a staunch ally of Beijing.

But even there the project has stoked controversy due to its huge price tag — at $5.8 billion, roughly half the country’s 2015 GDP — and the question of how much deeply poor Laos will gain from the project.

Lopsided gains
There have been concerns in many countries about how much they will benefit from One Belt, One Road initiatives.

Gains for China, such as access to key markets and tackling overcapacity in domestic industries, are often more obvious than those for their partners.

Such worries have bedevilled projects in Central Asia, part of a potential route from western China to Europe.

These include a free trade zone at Horgos on the China-Kazakh border, notable for flashy malls on the Chinese side and relatively little on the Kazakh side, and a planned railway to Uzbekistan that has stalled in large part due to opposition in Kyrgyzstan, through which the line would run.

“I am against this railway as it stands because the financial benefits that could accrue to Kyrgyzstan accrue to (China and Uzbekistan) instead,” said Timur Saralayev, head of the Bishkek-based New Generation movement.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $54-billion project launched in 2013 linking western China to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan, has been targeted by separatist rebels in Balochistan province, who have blown up gas pipelines and trains and attacked Chinese engineers.

But the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua insisted the One Belt, One Road initiative enjoyed broad support.

“We have seen more and more support and approval of our projects. Many projects have delivered tangible benefits to the people in these countries,” she said.

The view from the ground, however, is not always so positive.

“The high-speed train… is only for super busy people who think time is money,” said the villager Sri, who lives next to the Indonesian rail project.

“We are not rushing to go anywhere.”

[GeneChing]

Greg Brundage continues his Silk Road quest. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 22: The Noble Martial Art Legacy of Qatar Continued (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1394)by Greg Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/8132_20180108-Silk22.jpg

[GeneChing]

China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: after five years, is the bloom off the rose? (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2166727/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-after-five-years-bloom-rose)
A strategic environment much changed since Xi Jinping unveiled the massive infrastructure plan in 2013 has the country’s top leaders wondering how far this grand enterprise can go
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 07 October, 2018, 8:32pm
UPDATED : Monday, 08 October, 2018, 4:41pm
Kristin Huang
Laura Zhou

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2018/10/08/5f773cda-c648-11e8-9907-be608544c5a1_1280x720_164133.JPG?itok=yX_3Y9Uk

China credits President Xi Jinping’s massive infrastructure plan, the “Belt and Road Initiative”, with sparking a surge in the construction of railways, roads, bridges and ports across more than 65 countries and regions.

Five years after its launch, however, a litany of risks and criticism and a changing strategic environment have the country’s top leaders wondering just how far this grand and ambitious enterprise can go.

A new sense of urgency was palpable when Xi asked belt and road officials for their reports on the risks facing various projects, a source with knowledge of the gathering early this year told the South China Morning Post.

When officials attempted to impress Xi with descriptions of the progress being made on his pet programme, the president interrupted them, insisting they level with him about the risks and difficulties increasingly dogging it, the source said.

When first unveiled in September and October 2013 during the president’s visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, the strategy – initially known as the “One Belt, One Road” initiative – was promoted as “a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future”.

China watchers wary of Beijing, however, termed the proposal a push by the government to seize a larger role in global affairs via a China-centred trading network.

Encompassing 65 countries with a combined gross domestic product of US$23 trillion and total population of 4.4 billion, the belt and road strategy was introduced as a way to advance China’s political interests abroad while reducing its overcapacity problems at home.

Focused on infrastructure, it was to be a model not only for developing countries, but also industrialised nations in Europe and North America that needed to replace ageing facilities and systems.

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China’s belt and road plan aims to revive and extend trading routes connecting China with Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe via networks of upgraded or new railways, ports, pipelines, power grids and motorways. Photo: Bloomberg

Major projects include a US$5 billion China-Belarus industrial estate, a US$3.1 billion bridge and railway project in Bangladesh and a US$5.8 billion China-Laos railway.

Other China-funded work in the initiative includes building a US$10 billion refinery in Saudi Arabia; a new city next to the Port of Colombo, the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka with a total investment of US$13 billion over the next 25 years; and a freight route linking China’s eastern coast with London.

But Beijing has many barriers to overcome at home and abroad before it can realise its belt and road ambitions.

At home, doubt has been voiced publicly about whether the belt and road can tangibly improve China’s domestic welfare system. Outside the country, the initiative has been portrayed as Beijing’s attempt to lay a debt trap for smaller nations to increase their reliance on China.

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The Multan-Sukkur motorway in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province is the largest transport infrastructure project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Photo: Xinhua

“When the Belt and Road Initiative was launched five years ago, it mainly targeted the Eurasia region,” said Wang Yiwei, an international affairs professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “There was no expectation that it would expand to wider regions that also cover Africa.”

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The Luang Prabang railway bridge being built by the China Railway No 8 Engineering Group on the Mekong in Laos. Photo: Xinhua

As the initiative grows in scope, Chinese companies and even some local Chinese governments have increasingly branded their projects as part of the belt and road strategy. This trend has sometimes hurt the stature of the overall endeavour.

“The reputation of the initiative is damaged as some people and organisations are trying to export bad assets outside China, and said they are doing it for the initiative,” Wang said.

In its effort to advance a development strategy focused on connectivity and cooperation, China also now faces competition from the United States and the European Union, both of which have been pursuing their own plans to counter China’s expanding influence.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/10/08/f5ff5580-c647-11e8-9907-be608544c5a1_1320x770_164133.JPG
The proposed Beilun River Bridge at the Sino-Vietnamese border is part of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. Photo: He Huifeng

In late July, the US expanded its infrastructure drive in the Asia-Pacific region with new investment programmes that doubled the global spending cap for a proposed merged agency, the US International Development Finance Corporation, to US$60 billion.

The European Union also put forward its own connectivity programme with Asia last month. The EU programme emphasises sustainability and transparency – two features that the belt and road strategy has been accused of lacking.

Critics have warned that poor countries could be mired in huge debt by failing to resist the lure of Chinese money.

“It is obvious for all concerned that sustainable borrowing ratios have far exceeded the norm,” said Abourahman Boreh, a former head of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority.

“My view is that a diversified portfolio of foreign investors, as well as the continued development and sharing of benefit for the local population, is the only sustainable pathway for developing countries such as Djibouti.”

Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China to build the seaport of Hambantota, which is still struggling to attract ships. In December, Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena handed over control of the port and 15,000 acres around it to Beijing on a 99-year lease.

Developing countries along the belt and road are often vulnerable because of uncertainties in their legal, political and commercial systems. Problems are likely after any transition of power.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, for example, cancelled two China-financed mega projects in late August: the US$20 billion East Coast Rail Link and two gas pipeline projects worth US$2.3 billion. Mahathir said his country could not afford those projects and they were not needed.

The recent change in leadership in Pakistan could also see a potential pullback on agreements for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship, multibillion-dollar belt and road project.

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Sri Lanka's government agreed to lease a 70 per cent stake in the port facilities at Hambantota to China for 99 years. Photo: AFP

But China will not give up the initiative. In a speech that opened the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in September, Xi said China would offer US$60 billion in financial support for Africa, and would cancel unpaid debts for some poor African nations.

Earlier this year, in a seminar to mark the initiative’s anniversary, Xi said China was not seeking a geopolitical and military alliance through the belt and road. He also said Beijing needed to fine-tune the initiative to focus on high-quality projects that would benefit local people.

Analysts said China would adjust the initiatives, with its foreign and commerce ministries offering policy guidance and the National Development and Reform Commission focusing on risk assessment.

Authorities have already been boosting risk assessment and creating a set of data against which to evaluate the projects’ effectiveness. In 2016, a group of Peking University academics began to publish a “Five Connectivity Index” to evaluate China’s overseas investment under the initiative. The effort was sponsored by the National Social Science Fund.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US would expand its infrastructure drive in the Asia-Pacific region with new investment programmes. Photo: AFP

Feng Zhongping, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations and one of co-creators of the index, said it could offer “a scientific way to better understand progress in the connectivity process”.

The frequency of mutual visits to each other’s countries by leaders of China and belt and road nations, as well as political stability, the legal system, trade figures, currency swaps and tourist numbers are taken into consideration to measure the effectiveness of belt and road investment.

For example, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as United Arab Emirates and central Asia’s Kazakhstan are listed as destinations that are best connected to the belt and road. Meanwhile, war-torn Yemen in the Middle East and Bhutan were ranked at the bottom, owing to weak policy communications.

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A man walks by a government propaganda billboard promoting Xi Jinping’s signature belt and road plan in Beijing. Photo: AP

Zhixing Zhang, senior East Asia analyst with Stratfor, a US-based intelligence group, said China had to learn to surmount various obstacles to advance its overseas practices via the belt and road.

“The suspicions and strategic competitions as a result [of it] are also part of the strategic realities Beijing will inevitably face,” he said. “How well Beijing works to adjust its approach and to adapt to the changing strategic environment will ultimately shape the initiative in the future.”

Huong Le Thu, a senior analyst from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, said Beijing needed to address such issues to avoid further damaging China’s reputation as it pursued projects related to the initiative.

“If Beijing doesn’t revise its model of the debt-driven project, it risks the ‘Sri Lanka effect’ – that is, the Hambantota port will become the belt and road’s negative poster child,” Le Thu said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: five years on, xi’s massive project faces barriers

Easier to build a wall than a road. :eek:

;)

[GeneChing]

Our intrepid reporter travels to the Land of Cush. READ The Rainbow Continent Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 1: Welcome Home to Ethiopia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1444) by Gregory Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/6861_20183804.jpg

THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
African Martial Arts (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?45823)
Shaolin Rasta - the 37th Chamber (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?58144)

[GeneChing]

Our intrepid reporter explores Wushu in the Land of Cush. READ The Rainbow Continent Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 2: Ethiopia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1452) by Gregory Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/3716_20184401-Ethiopia.jpg

THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
African Martial Arts (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?45823)
Shaolin Rasta - the 37th Chamber (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?58144)

[GeneChing]

I need to post this here because this is are 'One Belt, One Road' thread.


“One Belt, One Road” The Chinese Taiji Culture World Workshop (http://tigerclawfoundation.org/)
The Tiger Claw Foundation is supporting the “One Belt, One Road” The Chinese Taiji Culture World Workshop on Friday February 8th, 2019 at the Royal Palace, 6058 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont CA 94538, and Saturday 9th, 2019 at the Redemption Church, 105 Nortech Pkwy, San Jose CA. The “One Belt, One Road” Taiji Ambassadors include Grandmaster Chen Zhenlei, Grandmaster Wang Zhanhai, Grandmaster Yang Jun, Professor Huang Kanhui, Master Wu Dong, and Master Qiu Huifang. Contact Gigi Oh for tuition rates at 408-209-8150 gigitcmedia@hotmail.com.

In cooperation with nccaf.org and KungFuMagazine.com.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dxczjq1UcAAKXTc.jpg:large

[GeneChing]

In the tradition of Marco Polo, I suppose.


Italy joins China's New Silk Road project (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47679760)
23 March 2019

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/2E12/production/_106149711_mediaitem106149707.jpg
REUTERS
There was long applause as the two leaders met to witness the signature of the deals

Italy has become the first developed economy to sign up to China's global investment programme which has raised concerns among Italy's Western allies.

A total of 29 deals amounting to €2.5bn ($2.8bn) were signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Rome.

The project is seen as a new Silk Road which, just like the ancient trade route, aims to link China to Europe.

Italy's European Union allies and the United States have expressed concern at China's growing influence.

What is the Chinese project about?

The new Silk Road has another name - the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - and it involves a wave of Chinese funding for major infrastructure projects around the world, in a bid to speed Chinese goods to markets further afield. Critics see it as also representing a bold bid for geo-political and strategic influence.

It has already funded trains, roads, and ports, with Chinese construction firms given lucrative contracts to connect ports and cities - funded by loans from Chinese banks.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/13B14/production/_106106608_silk_road_640-nc.png

The levels of debt owed by African and South Asian nations to China have raised concerns in the West and among citizens - but roads and railways have been built that would not exist otherwise:

In Uganda, Chinese millions built a 50km (30 mile) road to the international airport

In Tanzania, a small coastal town may become the continent's largest port

In Europe too, Chinese firms managed to buy 51% of the port authority in Piraeus port near Athens in 2016, after years of economic crisis in Greece

What projects were signed in Rome?

On behalf of Italy, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, leader of the populist Five Star Movement, signed the umbrella deal (memorandum of intent) making Italy formally part of the Economic Silk Road and The Initiative for a Maritime Silk Road for the 21st Century.

Ministers then signed deals over energy, finance, and agricultural produce, followed by the heads of big Italian gas and energy, and engineering firms - which will be offered entry into the Chinese market.

China's Communications and Construction Company will be given access to the port of Trieste to enable links to central and eastern Europe. The Chinese will also be involved in developing the port of Genoa.

What's in it for Italy?

Italy is the first member of the G7 group of developed world economies to take money offered by China.

It is one of the world's top 10 largest economies - yet Rome finds itself in a curious situation.

The collapse of the Genoa bridge in August killed dozens of people and made Italy's crumbling infrastructure a major political issue for the first time in decades.

And Italy's economy is far from booming.

The country slipped into recession at the end of 2018, and its national debt levels are among the highest in the eurozone. Italy's populist government came to power in June 2018 with high-spending plans but had to peg them back after a stand-off with the EU.

Mr Di Maio told a news conference: "Italy has arrived first on the Silk Road and therefore other European countries at this moment have taken a stance on our trade decisions.

"They have taken a critical view and they have the right to this opinion."

"We do not want to override our European partners. We firmly remain in the Euro-Atlantic alliance and we remain allies of the United States in Nato," he added.

There is, however, dissent within the Italian government. Mr Di Maio's coalition partner, the other Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, who heads the right-wing League, was conspicuously absent from all official ceremonies.

Mr Salvini has warned that he does not want to see foreign businesses "colonising" Italy.

"Before allowing someone to invest in the ports of Trieste or Genoa, I would think about it not once but a hundred times," Mr Salvini warned.

What's in it for China?

Italy's move is "largely symbolic", according to Peter Frankopan, professor of Global History at Oxford University and a writer on The Silk Roads.

But even Rome admitting the BRI is worth exploring "has a value for Beijing", he said.

What China's One Belt, One Road really means

"It adds gloss to the existing scheme and also shows that China has an important global role."

"The seemingly innocuous move comes at a sensitive time for Europe and the European Union, where there is suddenly a great deal of trepidation not only about China, but about working out how Europe or the EU should adapt and react to a changing world," Prof Frankopan told the BBC.

"But there is more at stake here too," he added. "If investment does not come from China to build ports, refineries, railway lines and so on, then where will it come from?"

Grappling with China's growing power

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OXFORD SCIENCE ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAG
Explorer Marco Polo's travels along the Silk Road were immortalised in the "Book of Marvels"

The "made in Italy" label carries a reputation for quality worldwide, and is legally protected for products items processed "mainly" in Italy.

In recent years, Chinese factories based in Italy using Chinese labour have been challenging that mark of quality.

Better connections for cheap raw materials from China - and the return of finished products from Italy - could exaggerate that practice.

'Predatory' investment

The agreements signed in Rome come amid questions over whether Chinese firm Huawei should be permitted to build essential communications networks - after the United States expressed concern they could help Beijing spy on the West.

That was not part of the negotiations in Italy.

But a little over a week before the deal was due to be signed, the European Commission released a joint statement on "China's growing economic power and political influence" and the need to "review" relations.

As President Xi toured Rome, EU leaders in Brussels considered their approach for relations with China.

"Our aim is to focus on achieving a balanced relation, which ensures fair competition and equal market access," Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, said.

In March, US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis pointed out that Italy was a major economy and did not need to "lend legitimacy to China's vanity infrastructure project".

[GeneChing]

I'm not going to even try to pretend that I understand what's happening here. It just amuses me that China is so invested in Godzilla.


MAY 9, 2019 7:29AM PT
China to Remake Classic Balkan Films as Part of Diplomatic Charm Offensive (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/china-serbia-bosnia-bridge-sarajevo-1203209766/)
By REBECCA DAVIS

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/godzilla.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

China’s Huahua Media has signed on to remake two classic war films from the Balkans as part of a push to improve diplomatic ties between the Middle Kingdom and countries taking part in its “Belt and Road” global infrastructure project, Chinese reports said. The news follows Huahua’s return to the spotlight as an investor on the upcoming “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” franchise film, though the company was better-known in the past for a short-lived slate financing deal with Paramount in 2017.

The ambassadors to China from Serbia and from Bosnia and Herzegovina were present as Huahua inked a deal with the Sarajevo Film Center and a Serbian production company to remake two Serbo-Croatian-language films: 1969’s “The Bridge,” about the defense of a span against the Nazis in World War II, and 1972’s “Walter Defends Sarajevo,” helmed by the Bosnian director Hajrudin Krvavac.

“The remake is not only a tribute to the classics; it will also further promote deep cultural exchange between the three countries,” the website Sohu Film said. It cited Huahua CEO Wang Kefei as saying that the partnership “responds to the call of the state by bearing the important weight of strengthening ‘Belt and Road’ cultural exchange.”

Last week, China signed a major infrastructure deal and numerous other agreements with Serbia, the most significant of which will see cooperation between the two countries on the construction of a new metro system in Belgrade. Critics of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Balkans cite fears that such projects might create untenable debt.

China-Kazakhstan co-production “The Composer,” the first to be made from a co-production treaty to bring the mainland closer to another Belt and Road nation, was selected as the opening film for the Beijing International Film Festival last month and is set for nationwide theatrical release in China next Friday.
THREADS
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70303-Godzilla-King-of-the-Monsters)
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)

[GeneChing]

The Journey continues. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 23: Wushu Federation in Vietnam (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1490) by Greg Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/2241_20192405Silk_23.jpg

[GeneChing]

Two dozen installments now. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 24: Nam Hồng Sơn Bắc Ninh Martial Arts in Hanoi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1493) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

Japanese Wushu? READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 25: Wushu in the Land of the Rising Sun (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1502) by Greg Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/6927_20193411SilkRoad25.jpg

[GeneChing]

READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 26: Wushu in the Land of the Rising Sun - Continued (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1508) by Greg Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/8650_20193807_Silk26.jpg

[GeneChing]

Speaking of Silat, READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 27: Wushu in Indonesia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1513) by Greg Brundage

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/9288_20194425-silk27.jpg

THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
Silat (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?2737-Silat)
Fall 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71322)

[GeneChing]

Silat revisited - READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 28: Wushu in Indonesia Continued (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1517)by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
Fall 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71322)
Silat (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?2737)

[GeneChing]

When Wushu Crosses the Silk Road: READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 29: The Shanghai 15th World Wushu Championships (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1521) by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
15th World Wushu Championships (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71521)

[GeneChing]

Shanghai & Silk. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 30: The Shanghai 15th World Wushu Championships Continued (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1524) by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
15th World Wushu Championships (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71521)

[GeneChing]

Muay Thai and Gems. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 31: Wushu in Thailand (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1527) by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861)
Muay Thai (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?26700)

[GeneChing]

Nevermind Muay Thai. Thai Wushu! READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 32: Wushu in Thailand Continued (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1530) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

On the Road Again. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 33: Ancient and Modern Roots of Kung Fu Legacy in Hong Kong (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1537) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

An Ip Man disciple. READ The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 34: Kung Fu in Hong Kong - Interview with Wing Chun Sifu Sam Lau (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1539) by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
WC in Hong Kong (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57255-WC-in-Hong-Kong)
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)

[GeneChing]

A first-hand account. READ Battling COVID-19 in Beijing (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1540) by Greg Brundage

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THREADS
The Silk Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)
Covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

JUNE 18, 2020 / 8:53 PM / 4 DAYS AGO
China says one-fifth of Belt and Road projects 'seriously affected' by pandemic (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-silkroad-idUSKBN23Q0I1)
2 MIN READ

BEIJING (Reuters) - About 20% of projects under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to link Asia, Europe and beyond have been “seriously affected” by the coronavirus pandemic, an official from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

According to a survey by the ministry, about 40% of projects have seen little adverse impact, and another 30-40% have been somewhat affected, said Wang Xiaolong, director-general of the ministry’s International Economic Affairs Department, at a news briefing in Beijing.

“About 20% percent of the projects have been seriously affected,” he said. Wang did not give any details.

The results from the survey were better than expected and although some projects had been put on hold, China had not heard of any major projects being cancelled, he added.

Over 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. According to a Refinitiv database, over 2,600 projects at a cost of $3.7 trillion are linked to the initiative.

Restrictions on travel and the flow of goods across borders, as well as local measures to combat COVID-19, were the main reasons for the impacts on projects, said Wang.

“As the situation improves we have confidence that the projects will come back and the execution of them will speed up,” he said.

The challenge of the pandemic to BRI projects follows a pushback in 2018, when officials in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere criticized projects there as costly and unnecessary.

China scaled back some plans after several countries sought to review, cancel or scale down commitments, citing concerns over costs, erosion of sovereignty, and corruption.

(This story adds dropped words in lead paragraph)

Threads
The-Silk-Road (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

G-7 wants to rival China’s Belt and Road plan — but it won’t stop Beijing, expert says (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/14/g-7-infrastructure-plan-wont-stop-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-csis.html)
PUBLISHED MON, JUN 14 20212:55 AM EDT
Yen Nee Lee
@YENNEE_LEE

KEY POINTS
The Group of Seven wealthy nations have agreed to set up an infrastructure plan to compete with China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative.
The plan is not intended to stop the Belt and Road Initiative, said Matthew Goodman of Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Still, it could make a “significant contribution” in closing the world’s infrastructure gap by channeling investments into developing countries,” said Goodman.

Wealthy nations in the Group of Seven have agreed to set up an infrastructure plan to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative — but that won’t stop Beijing’s massive program, an expert on global economic governance said Monday.

Leaders from the G-7 nations met at a three-day summit in southwest England that ended Sunday — their first face-to-face meeting in two years. The group’s infrastructure plan is part of a broad collective pushback against China on issues ranging from human rights abuses to non-market practices that undermine fair competition.

“This isn’t really intended to stop Belt and Road. But I think the G-7 is signaling that they want to offer an alternative which really revolves around two big things that these countries offer,” said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics at Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s ambitious program to build physical and digital infrastructure to connect hundreds of countries from Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Critics consider it Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy to expand his country’s global influence.

Goodman, who’s also the Simon Chair in political economy at CSIS, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that the G-7 could make a “significant contribution” in closing the world’s infrastructure gap by channeling investments into developing countries.


I think the tone was pretty clear about the concern that these seven large, advanced market economies have about China, its economic coercion, its non-market policies, its human rights abuses.
Matthew Goodman
CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

In addition, the seven rich democracies would bring better safeguards to infrastructure projects — including transparency, accountability as well as environmental and social standards, said Goodman.

“I think that’s what they’re trying to signal here. Whether they can pull it off or not is another story, it’s a very difficult business,” he added.

The U.S. and many countries have been critical of the Belt and Road plan, accusing Beijing of leaving participating countries laden with untenable debt, while benefiting Chinese companies — many of them state-owned. In addition to the program’s environmental harm, critics also questioned the transparency of the deals.

Confronting China
China featured prominently in a communique released by the G-7 on Sunday. The G-7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.

In addition to calling out China’s alleged human rights abuses and non-market policies, the G-7 also asked for more transparency on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. They stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and expressed concerns about tensions in the East and South China Sea where China has overlapping territorial claims with its regional neighbors.

Beijing responded angrily to the communique on Monday.

The Chinese embassy in the U.K. said it firmly opposed the G-7 statement and was strongly dissatisfied. In a Mandarin-language statement translated by CNBC, the embassy urged the U.S. and other G-7 members to stop slandering China and interfering in Chinese internal affairs.

Before the release of the Chinese embassy’s statement, Goodman said Beijing shouldn’t be surprised of the G-7 pushback. He said the group had wanted to show that democratic nations are working together to address global challenges, in contrast to authoritarian rivals such as China and Russia.

“I think the tone was pretty clear about the concern that these seven large, advanced market economies have about China, its economic coercion, it’s non-market policies, its human rights abuses,” said Goodman.

“And I think that was well telegraphed in the run-up to the summit, so Beijing shouldn’t be surprised.”

G& = Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

[GeneChing]

On the road again. READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 35 – Hainan Island and Grandmaster Liu Huai Liang (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1608) by Greg Brundage

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Threads
The-Silk-Road (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)
Original-Shaolin-Temple-movie-(Jet-Li) (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?64237-Original-Shaolin-Temple-movie-(Jet-Li))

[GeneChing]

Weapon sparring? READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 36 – Interview with Hainan’s Grandmaster Liu Huai Liang (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1616) continued by Greg Brundage

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[YinOrYan]

Weapon sparring? READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 36 – Interview with Hainan’s Grandmaster Liu Huai Liang (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1616) continued by Greg Brundage



MartailArtSmart should carry those padded swords. I think those could past security at the University club too. There's some sword forms I just can't do very well with a folded fan...

[GeneChing]

On the Road Again! READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 37 – Phuket, Thailand (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1622) by Greg Brundage

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MartailArtSmart should carry those padded swords. I think those could past security at the University club too. There's some sword forms I just can't do very well with a folded fan...
MartialArtsMart already carries several types of padded swords.

Tiger Claw Combat Swords (https://martialartsmart.com/collections/soft-martial-arms-foam-wooden-rubber/products/35-1735-17)
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Tiger Claw Action Bats (https://martialartsmart.com/collections/soft-martial-arms-foam-wooden-rubber/products/35-07)
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[GeneChing]

Where Wushu meets Muay Thai. READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 38 – Phuket Island’s Kung Fu Continued (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1630) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

On the Road Again... READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 39: Chiang Mai, Thailand’s Rose of the North & Martial Art Heaven (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1679) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

On the Road Again. READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 40: Chiang Mai - Thailand’s Rose and Martial Art Heaven continued (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1698) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

TCM vs TTM? READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 41, in Chiang Mai - Ancient Roots and Modern Thai Traditional Medicine (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1702) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

Still on the Road...Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 42, in Chiang Mai - Ancient Roots and Modern Thai Traditional Medicine Continued (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1707) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

Thai fighting that's not Muay Thai. Read Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 43, Introducing Muay Jeung – Northwest Thailand’s Traditional Weapons and Unarmed Fighting Art (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1709) by Greg Brundage

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krabi-krabong-in-Thailand (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?22038-krabi-krabong-in-Thailand)
The-Silk-Road (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68861-The-Silk-Road)

[GeneChing]

Belt and Road Forum shows China recalibrating after 10 years (https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Belt-and-Road/Belt-and-Road-Forum-shows-China-recalibrating-after-10-years)
Smaller projects, tech prowess appeal to Global South as Europe grows wary

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%253A%252F%252Fcms-image-bucket-production-ap-northeast-1-a7d2.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%252Fimages%252F8%252F8%252F0%252F8 %252F46708088-1-eng-GB%252F2023-10-18T165457Z_2051980120_RC2OU3A21TDE_RTRMADP_3_CHINA-BRI.JPG?width=700&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms
A sign for the Third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. This week's forum underscored a new emphasis on "small yet smart" projects. © Reuters

CK TAN, Nikkei staff writer
October 19, 2023 18:02 JST
BEIJING -- The Belt and Road Forum concluded on Wednesday has provided a glimpse of China's future global engagement, likely focusing on smaller projects in developing economies of the so-called Global South, while other countries distance themselves amid high geopolitical tensions.

The forum celebrated 10 years of the initiative, launched in 2013 and inspired by ancient trade routes. Since its inception, China's infrastructure-centered investment blitz has spanned over 150 countries, stretching from Asia to Africa and on to South America. It has driven the "flow of goods, capital, technologies and human resources," President Xi Jinping said in his address to the event.

But the initiative has also stirred unease over Beijing's spreading influence, as well as risks to the environment and debt distress among countries saddled with the bills. With China facing its own issues as its economic growth slows, this week's forum underscored a new emphasis on "small yet smart" projects observed in recent years.

At the same time, Xi still vowed to accelerate connectivity between China and Europe over the next 10 years, integrating ports, shipping and trading services. He also pledged new financing and spoke of creating pilot zones for e-commerce cooperation.

Despite Xi's sales pitch, it was clear that European interest and involvement in the initiative is waning.

Except for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, leaders from richer European economies were conspicuously absent at the two-day forum. Italy, the only G7 member to sign up to the Belt and Road, has signaled that it is looking at withdrawing. Other major European economies are taking stock of their dealings with China.

"There may be some movement on small scale specialized projects," Peter Buckley, a professor of international business at U.K.'s Alliance Manchester Business School, told Nikkei Asia. "Strategic considerations and environmental barriers are likely to rule out larger scale projects from China either via the [initiative] or, more generally projects with any involvement by Chinese state-owned enterprises or firms with state connections."

The Belt and Road Forum featured Russian President Vladimir Putin along with leaders from Congo, Laos, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other mainly emerging economies in need of development financing. All told, delegates from over 130 nations attended.

That sheer number "speaks to the continuing appeal of the BRI among developing countries in the Global South," said analysts at U.S. risk advisory Eurasia Group, while Western governments shunned the gathering.

The total number of world leaders in attendance declined to about 20, compared with 36 when the same forum was held in 2019. Several European countries that sent leaders in the past, such as Greece, Spain, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, did not do so this time.

Likewise, "the leaders of Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, for example, all declined to attend, though they had participated in the 2019 forum," Eurasia Group noted.

At any rate, Beijing's capacity to extend funding appears to have narrowed. On Wednesday, Xi announced that the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China will each set up 350 billion yuan ($48 billion) financing facilities to support future Belt and Road projects.

"In the grand scheme of things, the absolute values of these amounts over multiple years and multiple countries may not be significant," said Ammar A. Malik, senior researcher at AidData, a research lab at U.S. university William & Mary.

Malik added that Chinese development finance levels were around $85 billion per year during the early years of the initiative.

Another notable Xi proposal was to push for a global artificial intelligence governance framework to "promote orderly and secure development."

The AI initiative calls for other countries to respect "national sovereignty and strictly abide by their laws," indicating that AI products such as ChatGPT that do not censor their results in China will not be allowed into the domestic market, Eurasia Group said.

"It is consistent with Beijing's attempts to represent the interests of the Global South and oppose U.S. efforts at drawing ideological lines or forming exclusive groups to obstruct other countries from developing AI," the analysis added.

China's competitive edge, be it in AI or e-commerce technology, puts the country in a position of leadership over developing economies. This could pose yet another challenge to U.S.-led allies, if more developing countries reliant on Beijing's goodwill opt for Chinese technology.

I'm reflective on this because we've covered it since the beginning here.

[GeneChing]

Do you feel lucky? READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 44 – Chinese Numbers (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1721) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

Back to PRC. READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 45 - Visit to the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) Headquarters (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1723) by Greg Brundage

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[GeneChing]

China’s top corruption watchdog puts belt and road projects, rural strategy in the cross hairs (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253236/chinas-top-corruption-watchdog-puts-belt-and-road-projects-rural-strategy-cross-hairs#:~:text=The%20report%20said%20the%20CCDI,in% 20belt%20and%20road%20projects.)
CCDI to deepen campaign targeting ‘unhealthy practices and corruption’ in rural revitalisation and seek better integrity in belt and road projects
In this year’s work report, graft buster also says it will focus on political security and improve supervision of the regions and across departments
William Zheng

Published: 5:00pm, 26 Feb, 2024
https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/02/26/f04717c7-8a02-4fd2-ad7b-434d5215e2fb_4380a522.jpg?itok=_iiWJIvX&v=1708938021

Fighting corruption related to the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s rural revitalisation strategy will be among the priorities for the country’s top graft buster this year.
That is according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s work report for 2024, which was released in full by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday – two months after it was delivered by CCDI chief Li Xi during a plenary session.

The report said the CCDI would this year coordinate crackdowns both at home and overseas. It said the graft buster would deepen a campaign targeting “unhealthy practices and corruption” in rural revitalisation, and seek better integrity in belt and road projects.

The global, trillion-dollar trade and infrastructure programme and the rural revitalisation strategy are both signature policies of President Xi Jinping.
It comes after Li in November said China was committed to a “clean Silk Road” when he met his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Cam Tu in Beijing. The belt and road scheme is sometimes referred to as the “New Silk Road”, and the pledge to keep it free of bribery and corruption was seen as a response to concerns from the West about the integrity of the projects.

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/02/26/f09c1ae0-2476-4566-8bad-09063bc82914_6a2820ba.jpg
Tran Cam Tu (left), who heads Vietnam’s anti-corruption body, meets his Chinese counterpart Li Xi in Beijing in November. Photo: Xinhua
The rural revitalisation strategy follows on from Xi’s poverty alleviation campaign, after Beijing declared victory in the battle to end extreme poverty in 2020. It aims to make farming more efficient, and for rural areas to be more liveable and their residents better off. To do this, Beijing has poured billions of yuan into building infrastructure to improve market access to agriculture and public services, and to fix problems such as pollution.

The CCDI ordered a crackdown on problems related to rural revitalisation projects a year ago, after reports of regional officials using fake projects to pocket funding from Beijing, and some carrying out superficial work to try to get the projects past inspectors.

In this year’s work report, the graft buster also said it would focus on political security and “show no mercy to those who form political gangs, cliques and interest groups” within the ruling Communist Party.

That accusation has previously been made against senior officials including former deputy security chief Sun Lijun and former justice minister Fu Zhenghua, both of whom were jailed for life in high-profile corruption cases.

The CCDI also vowed to improve supervision of the regions and across departments to ensure commands from the party’s top leadership are closely followed.

“[We must] strengthen political supervision surrounding the major policies of the party and the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping,” the work report said.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the CCDI commitment to supervise every aspect of governance in China as well as overseas projects suggests that Xi sees anti-corruption efforts and party discipline as key to his political legacy.

“But it remains to be seen what Beijing will do to better supervise the belt and road projects,” he said. 'political gangs, cliques and interest groups' is the QotD

[GeneChing]

Back to Beijing. READ Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 46 - Visit to China’s National Sports Training Center (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1732) by Greg Brundage

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