# What does everyone think of this 'Belt & Road Initiative' China has launched? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859 "2017-05-17T17:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/1 "2017-05-17T17:53:40Z")
China officially launched an initiative to plan a massive infrastructure project with its surrounding neighbours to ease access and also wants to build a rail link to europe and strengthen logistic links as well. > **[Belt and Road Initiative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative)** > > The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), known within China as the One Belt One Road (Chinese: 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations. It is considered a centerpiece of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's foreign policy. The BRI forms a central component of Xi's "Major Country Diplomacy" (Chinese: 大国外交) strategy, which calls for China to assum Xi origi... It’s being touted as the biggest project since the Marshall plan, so I was wondering what peoples opinions of this are, and as to whether it will bring the economic success promised from the investment. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/2 "2017-05-17T17:56:12Z")
If it’s successful, it will be possibly the biggest economic story of the 21st century. It will network the whole Central Asia region, probably boost the Chinese economy a huge deal over several decades. But you got to wonder how vulnerable land-based railroads are to terrorism in central Asia; all it takes is for one segment of a rail to be damaged. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/3 "2017-05-17T19:24:08Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > China officially launched an initiative to plan a massive infrastructure project with its surrounding neighbours to ease access and also wants to build a rail link to europe and strengthen logistic links as well. FYI, the rail link to Europe has been completed. [Here](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/global/hauling-new-treasure-along-the-silk-road.html)’s a four-year-old article describing the journey from Chongqing to Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, although some of the cargo is moved by truck within Europe. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/4 "2017-05-17T19:30:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > But you got to wonder how vulnerable land-based railroads are to terrorism in central Asia; all it takes is for one segment of a rail to be damaged. But when you can shoot suspicious looking people on sight… Is this the silk road I’ve been hearing about on NPR news the last couple of days? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/5 "2017-05-17T20:08:26Z")
Linguistics is probably the greatest obstacle facing a future China. At present, they use an non-phonetic alphabet that is enormously problematic for digital transcription. But if they went over to a phonetic, it would divide and isolate several hundred million Chinese who do not speak a mutually comprehensible language with Mandarin, although they can read it. The third option would be to abandon Chinese language, and become and English speaking nation, which would take a half a century to realize in any useful form. So somebody is going to have to make a decision about whether China continues to use ideographic writing, or switches to divisive phonetic, or abandons Chinese altogether. . Nothing could be a hotter political potato than that. All winds blow ill. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/6 "2017-05-17T20:15:30Z")
It’s a really big contrast to the United States. The U.S. used to be believe in big infrastructure projects ranging from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Interstate Highway System. No more. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/7 "2017-05-17T20:24:45Z")
I think it’s a great idea. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/8 "2017-05-17T20:48:53Z")
I agree that it’s a great idea. Countries that trade with each other and have intertwined economies are less likely to go to war. That’s always a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/9 "2017-05-17T21:00:43Z")
Yes, I believe it will help the economies of the connected countries immensely, with most of the benefit going to China, of course. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/10 "2017-05-17T21:11:49Z")
I wonder what effect that will have on China wanting to own the South China Sea. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/11 "2017-05-17T21:30:07Z")
Forget about terrorism and linguistics. The biggest obstacle to this plan will be the Russians. They will see, correctly, that China will supplant Russia as the premiere power in Asia if this plan is completed. Of course, proposing this plan shows the Chinese probably feel they’ve already supplanted Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/12 "2017-05-17T21:31:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wonder what effect that will have on China wanting to own the South China Sea. It’s all part of the same policy. China feels it’s powerful enough to expand its influence into new areas. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/13 "2017-05-17T23:27:52Z")
As someone who doesn’t know a lot about trade, why is this a big deal? I thought a lot of trade was due to barges. Will Africa benefit from this? I get the impression it is mostly Asia that will benefit. Africa needs trade to lift their economy and get people out of poverty. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/14 "2017-05-17T23:50:15Z")
[China is investing heavily in Africa](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/magazine/is-china-the-worlds-new-colonial-power.html) as well, with investments of billions of dollars, including an enormous uranium mine in Namibia. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/15 "2017-05-18T00:32:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > As someone who doesn’t know a lot about trade, why is this a big deal? I thought a lot of trade was due to barges. The article I read (on the BBC web site, I think) explained that it’s for cargo that needs to be moved faster than by ship but isn’t worth paying the premium to move by air. If I recall correctly, the article quoted an expert who was skeptical that there was necessarily that much cargo that fell into that category. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/16 "2017-05-18T00:53:34Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > It’s a really big contrast to the United States. The U.S. used to be believe in big infrastructure projects ranging from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Interstate Highway System. No more. That’s because we already did them. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/17 "2017-05-21T15:49:13Z")
It is a [VERY big deal](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1046488.shtml). The Chinese think big. One of these days, it will be possible to travel from New York to London or Singapore-[by rail](http://www.interbering.com/)! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/18 "2017-05-21T17:28:53Z")
> [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](#): > > It is a [VERY big deal](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1046488.shtml). The Chinese think big. One of these days, it will be possible to travel from New York to London or Singapore-[by rail](http://www.interbering.com/)! _Howard_: Yeah, cool. Seven times as long as flying, and costs almost twice as much. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/19 "2017-05-21T21:02:32Z")
“Belt & Road”. Sounds like a normal afternoon to me. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everyone-think-of-this-belt-road-initiative-china-has-launched/786859/20 "2017-05-21T22:43:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Forget about terrorism and linguistics. The biggest obstacle to this plan will be the Russians. They will see, correctly, that China will supplant Russia as the premiere power in Asia if this plan is completed. Of course, proposing this plan shows the Chinese probably feel they’ve already supplanted Russia. China’s ten times as populous as Russia, and close to ten times as wealthy. I think it’s probably a safe bet.