<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
It’s actually $5 trillion. And American companies getting a “piece” of the action might mean “peace," instead of the US usual war.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">See below:</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="media" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; width: 610px;">
<img width="630" height="378" src="http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2017/05/2017-05-13T054929Z_1_LYNXMPED4C020_RTROPTP_4_CHINA-SILKROAD-630x378-1494818311.jpg" class="wp-post-image attachment-6columns size-6columns lazy" alt="Honour guards march before a welcoming ceremony ahead of the Belt and Road forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 13. Photo: Reuters" title="Honour guards march before a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px; height: auto; display: block;">
<div class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: none; width: 610px; color: rgb(120, 120, 120);">
Honour guards march before a welcoming ceremony ahead of the Belt and Road forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 13. Photo: Reuters</div>
</div>
<div class="above-headline" style="margin: 0px 0px 35px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; text-transform: uppercase;">
<span class="section" style="margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(0, 124, 215); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; height: 22px; display: inline-block;"><a href="http://www.atimes.com/tag/china/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class="">CHINA</a></span><span class="topic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.atimes.com/tag/belt-and-road-forum/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class="">BELT
AND ROAD FORUM</a></span><span class="label" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(199, 31, 0);">OPINION</span></div>
<h1 class="headline" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Tablet Gothic W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 46px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);">
Peace, harmony and happiness, plus a deluge of yuan</h1>
<h2 class="underline" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Tablet Gothic W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 200; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);">
Inclusive globalization, win-win global trade, Made in China 2025 ... President Xi uses Belt and Road Forum to explain how sprawling trade initiative will change China and the world
</h2>
<div class=" under-headline" style="margin: 0px 0px 44px; padding: 12px 0px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: dotted; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(69, 76, 89); border-bottom-color: rgb(69, 76, 89); font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 610px; height: inherit;">
<span class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215);">By <a class="name" title="Pepe Escobar" href="http://www.atimes.com/writer/pepe-escobar/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;">PEPE
ESCOBAR</a></span> <span class="wrap-date-location" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase;">MAY
15, 2017 2:48 AM (UTC+8)</span></span>
<ul class="menu social-icons" style="margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 800; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; color: rgb(201, 201, 201); float: none; clear: both;">
<li class="facebook" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a class="popup" data-width="670" data-height="546" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;"></a></li><li class="twitter" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Peace%2C+harmony+and+happiness%2C+plus+a+deluge+of+yuan&url=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI&via=asiatimesonline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""></a></li><li class="linkedin" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a class="popup" data-width="670" data-height="546" href="https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;"></a></li><li class="print" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; outline: 0px;" class=""></a></li><li class="email open_mailto" data-article="130870" data-lang="eng" data-site="Asia Times" data-title="Peace, harmony and happiness, plus a deluge of yuan" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=AsiaTimes:%20Peace,%20harmony%20and%20happiness,%20plus%20a%20deluge%20of%20yuan&body=I%20found%20this%20on%20AsiaTimes%20and%20thought%20it%20might%20interest%20you:%20http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""></a></li><li class="share" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: right;">
<a href="http://www.atimes.com/article/peace-harmony-happiness-plus-deluge-rmb/?utm_source=The+Daily+Brief&utm_campaign=594bc18f3a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1f8bca137f-594bc18f3a-31498881#" title="Total Shares" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""><span class="fb-number number" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215);">4,212</span></a></li><li class="comments" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: right;">
<a href="http://www.atimes.com/article/peace-harmony-happiness-plus-deluge-rmb/?utm_source=The+Daily+Brief&utm_campaign=594bc18f3a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1f8bca137f-594bc18f3a-31498881#comments" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""><span class="number com-number" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215);">26</span></a></li></ul>
</div>
<div class="content" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 70px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 540px;">
<p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60); margin-top: 0px !important;" class="">
President Xi Jinping, in his keynote speech that opened the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, did his best to explain the future of the New Silk Roads.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Xi said that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – that what was once “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) – is a multilateral project set to bring “peace, harmony and happiness” across Eurasia by “strategically connecting” nations as diverse as Russia, Mongolia, Turkey
and Vietnam through development plans that are already operational. And, he added, they will be a success because extra funds are already on their way.</p>
<div class="newsletter" style="margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 540px; background-color: rgb(0, 124, 215); float: none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);">
<div class="newsletter-logo" style="margin: 35px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 800; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; width: 150px; display: inline-block;">
THE DAILY<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Titling W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 46px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; text-transform: none;" class="">Brief</span></div>
<div class="newsletter-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 16px 30px 16px 18px; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; border-left-style: dotted; border-left-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc(100% - 201px); display: inline-block;">
<div class="slogan" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc(100% - 20px); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox</div>
<form class="newsletter-form" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">
<input type="text" name="newsletter-mail" class="newsletter-mail" placeholder="Your Email here" style="width: calc((100% - 100px) - 30px); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 5px 0px 2px; background-image: none; margin-bottom: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-appearance: none; float: left;"><input type="button" class="newsletter-submit" value="SUBMIT" style="display: block; margin: 0px; width: 100px; height: 26px; line-height: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 124, 215); font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; border: none; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; font-weight: 700; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-appearance: none; float: right;"></form>
</div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Xi told his audience, that included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and a host of other world leaders and top ranking officials, that he had proposed an additional RMB 780 billion
(approximately US$113 billion) to be disbursed through multiple sources.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
These include the Silk Road Fund; the China Development Bank; the Export and Import Bank of China and also overseas capital provided by Chinese banks. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is not part – at least not yet – of this proposed package.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
That’s still a long way towards fulfilling Asia’s gargantuan infrastructure needs – estimated to be at least $5 trillion up to 2022.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Economic logic certainly points to connectivity between Asia and Europe compressing as mutual trade multiplies. Italy and the UK are already enthusiastic supporters of OBOR/BRI. As too are Germany’s industrialists.</p>
<div id="attachment_130891" class="width580 alignnone wp-caption" style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: left; width: 540px; height: auto; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);">
<img class="lazy wp-image-130891 size-textwidth" title="" src="http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2017/05/one-belt-one-road_3-580x340.png" alt="China's route through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Image: Agence France-Presse" width="580" height="340" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 540px; height: auto; margin: 0px !important;">
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: left; width: 540px; color: rgb(120, 120, 120);">
China’s route through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Image: Agence France-Presse</div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Significantly, before the summit, Xi was in a phone call with new French President Emmanuel Macron, who took power this Sunday. Xi not only offered the requisite support for EU integration; he encouraged Macron to buy into the New Silk Roads – which are not
exactly understood in France’s business and media – as part of a unified EU strategy.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
There’s no question that this massive attempt at infrastructure building – pipelines, ports, roads, high-speed rail, fiber-optic cables – that aims to unify Eurasia into a seamless trade emporium is the definitive 21st century geoeconomic/geopolitical project.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
OBOR/BRI will configure Globalization Mark II, or which Xi in Davos defined as “inclusive globalization”.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Which is really the same as interpreting OBOR/BRI as <a href="http://stories.cnas.org/connectivity-and-strategy-a-response-to-robert-kaplan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class="">“de-Americanized
globalization”</a>.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
And OBOR/BRI will certainly act as an essential component of Xi’s Made in China 2025 strategy and the now central aspirational “Chinese Dream” concept. The initiative has become the trade/economic foreign policy arm of Xi’s drive to move China into the status
of a “moderately affluent” society.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
What Xi is aiming at during the Beijing summit is to address two key but controversial points. How China proposes to finance OBOR/BRI. And how to build a consensus that this is a Eurasia-wide “win-win” operation.</p>
<h3 style="margin: 50px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
About that black or white cat</h3>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
New Silk Road activity is already frantic. Take the China-Europe Railway Express for for instance. It spans 51 different rail links with freight trains already connecting 27 Chinese and 28 European cities. There’s also a planned rail line between China and
Laos and a high-speed rail between Yunnan province in China and Thailand. In Malaysia there is Kuantan port industrial park and aluminium and palm oil processing. In Turkey three state-owned Chinese companies are turning the country’s third largest port, Kumport,
into a key OBOR/BRI node.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Among all these myriad projects, arguably the most ambitious is the US$46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It’s a complex network of roads, rail, oil/gas pipelines, ports, airports and special economic zones linking Xinjiang to Gwadar port in
Balochistan and is first New Silk Road project to get direct investment from the Silk Road Fund.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
In November 2016, an upgraded and extended Karakoram highway linked this Arabian Sea port with the ancient Chinese silk road of Kashgar.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
As Xi has stressed, China, beyond CPEC, will get even closer, geopolitically, to Pakistan under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
Cue to India throwing tantrums – and then sending a low-level delegation to the Beijing summit.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
That could be said to be counterproductive because China and India’s development strategies are not mutually exclusive. India is the second largest shareholder of the AIIB, after China and both China and India are equal partners in the New Development Bank
(NDB) – the BRICS bank – which is not directly implicated in financing OBOR/BRI projects.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
And most of all China and India are both members of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC); that has the aim of – what else – economic development. BCIM-EC could either become a branch of OBOR/BRI or proceed as a stand-alone mechanism,
with equal voice by all members.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
So to upgrade Deng Xiaoping. “It doesn’t matter if the New Silk Road cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice”. And catching mice in the 21st century means Eurasia integration.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Abril Text W01', georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(37, 45, 60);" class="">
</p>
<ul class="menu social-icons" style="margin: 32px 0px 22px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Soleil W01', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 800; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; color: rgb(201, 201, 201); float: left;">
<li class="facebook" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a class="popup" data-width="670" data-height="546" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;"></a></li><li class="twitter" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Peace%2C+harmony+and+happiness%2C+plus+a+deluge+of+yuan&url=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI&via=asiatimesonline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""></a></li><li class="linkedin" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a class="popup" data-width="670" data-height="546" href="https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;"></a></li><li class="email open_mailto" data-article="130870" data-lang="eng" data-site="Asia Times" data-title="Peace, harmony and happiness, plus a deluge of yuan" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left;">
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=AsiaTimes:%20Peace,%20harmony%20and%20happiness,%20plus%20a%20deluge%20of%20yuan&body=I%20found%20this%20on%20AsiaTimes%20and%20thought%20it%20might%20interest%20you:%20http%3A%2F%2Fati.ms%2FowCULI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 124, 215); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;" class=""></a></li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
<div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On May 15, 2017, at 11:48, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div class="">U.S. Companies Court Chinese Infrastructure Spending<br class="">
New York Times DealBook 5/15/17<br class="">
By Sei Chong<br class="">
<br class="">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>China plans a $1 trillion spending spree to invest in infrastructure all over the world in an initiative called “One Belt, One Road.” The money has not yet been earmarked, but American companies are
already looking at ways to get a piece of the action.<br class="">
For example, Citibank won a contract last month to handle a $3 billion bond offering from Bank of China, which aims to use the money to open branches across Asia, Eastern Europe and East Africa.<br class="">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>A big hurdle to winning bids though, is China’s preference for its own companies.<br class="">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>One way for American companies to increase their chances would be to increase manufacturing in China, not in the United States, to satisfy Beijing’s requirements that some of the work be done locally.<br class="">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>James Zimmerman, a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, is skeptical that non-Chinese companies can benefit from the spending. “Tell us what we are going to get out of this,”
he said, referring to the West. “It’s a nonstarter if it’s all about bringing Chinese goods to Europe, or if it’s all one way.”<br class="">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>#<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">
</span>#<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>#<br class="">
<br class="">
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Peace-discuss mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" class="">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a><br class="">
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>