Bruno Maçães (2019), Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order, New Delhi, Penguin Viking.
Jay Maniyar
Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order is a book written by eminent Portuguese author Bruno Maçães. The author is a Non-resident Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington D. C. and was the former Europe minister for Portugal. The book is premised on the Peoples’ Republic of China’s (PRC) Belt and Road initiative – an infrastructure, connectivity, and development initiative stretched across the terrestrial and maritime domains of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa covering almost seventy countries. The Belt and Road was announced in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping during visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia. The project involves six corridors, six means of communication, and innumerable countries from several continents as well as port connectivity.
The Book comprises five chapters explaining what the Belt and Road project is, while also elucidating the Belt and Road vis-à-vis the world economy, its influence on world politics, and important partner countries such as Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and their varied roles and contributions to the project. The last chapter envisages a world beyond the Belt and Road. The first chapter of the book is inclined towards a description of the many contours and aspects of the Belt and Road project in detail, in comparison to the introductory Chapter’s descriptive references to the Belt and Road as an all-encompassing mission to achieve China’s connectivity, infrastructure, and investment goals. Maçães compares and contrasts the opinions of several authors on the Belt and Road. Maçães expounds upon the many contours of the Belt and Road in the book’s second chapter titled ‘What is the Belt and Road?’ and explains the project as the manifestation of a new global order aimed at heralding Chinese political principles. The chapter emphasizes Xi Jinping’s characterization of the project as a ‘community of shared destiny’. The chapter also states that the Belt and Road intends to propagate Confucian principles of sincerity, honesty, and amity. The author refers to Chinese lending and investments as ‘coercive economic activities’. The author urges the reader to agree to the basic tenets of the Belt and Road or condemn themselves to the wrong side of history.
The chapter ‘Nuts and Bolts’ refers to the Maritime Silk Road and its endorsement by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The chapter also timelines the events that led to the project’s inclusion in the Constitution of the CPC. ‘Nuts and Bolts’ highlights the project’s official Vision and Actions document, including the legalities and the management of data flows within the project. The author unequivocally states that the Belt and Road is quid-pro-quo i.e. it is essentially meant to benefit China as much as China’s allies and partners. Quotes from the Visions and Action document are omnipresent in the chapter, and emphasize the various facets of the project. Aspects of the Belt and Road’s finances, such as the requirement of $26 trillion in investment by 2030, insight into the Belt and Road’s funding, and the involvement of Chinese financial institutions such as the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank as well as the Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIB) is mentioned in the chapter. A chronology of the funding from 2014 (through the Silk Road Fund) up until 2018 is described.
Importantly for India, the author mentions that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM) have become a part of the Belt and Road. Maçães explains that the project intends to cover the ‘whole space’ and, hence, is more about the ‘Belt’ than the ‘Road’. A contrast between the Silk Road and the Belt and Road is also mentioned i. e. the Belt and Road is leaning towards economic integration and not transportation infrastructure unlike the former. South Asian mentions of the Belt and Road include the CPEC, the Gwadar port in Pakistan, and the Hambantota port of Sri Lanka – all of which are witnessing wide-scale Chinese investments. A section on the ‘Road’ focusses on the West and East routes of the project. The maritime domain is particularly emphasized with it being described as a “blue economic passage” from the point-of-view of the Belt and Road. The transport routes are mentioned, as are the countries critical to these transport routes. India’s role is particularly stressed upon, especially trade partnerships. Towards the end of the chapter, the South China Sea disputes are mentioned with the author endorsing the Belt and Road project as an important symbol in China’s quest to gain the upper hand in resolving the territorial disputes in the world’s most contested waters.
The book’s third chapter ‘The Belt and Road And the World Economy’ deals with the many aspects of the world economy vis-à-vis China. The author questions China’s outreach to the major world economies via the Belt and Road. Maçães describes the project as part of Chinese “global development policy”, as well as a need for the impact of trade liberalisation on the project. Events after the announcement of the Belt and Road project such as the relocation of heavy industry abroad are underlined in the chapter. Made in China 2025 – the grand Chinese plan to envisage advanced technologies and manufacturing in China – is mentioned by the author. The crux remains, as per Maçães, that the development of new standards is critical to global Chinese emergence. The China-US tariffs imbroglio is described in detail in the latter part of the chapter. The author mentions that the Belt and Road seeks to achieve structural economic reform as well as improvements in its industries. The latter part of the chapter focusses on the Belt and Road’s role in China’s restive Xinjiang province, as well Pakistan and Kazakhstan. The later two chapters are the ‘The Belt and Road and World Politics’ and ‘The World After the Belt and Road’. The chapter on World Politics cover the several political events in relation to China, Pakistan, and India. India’s repeated border clashes with China, as well as the arrest of Kulbushan Jadhav at the hands of Pakistan’s sinister Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), are mentioned as political happenings around China’s forced coercion towards Indian participation in the Belt and Road. India’s increasingly important strategic partnership with Japan is mentioned in the backdrop of the two countries’ policy positions on China, as are the policy positions of a host of other countries in China’s neighbourhood and the European Union. Maçães assumes an anecdotal tone in the final chapter and reminisces a visit to Forest City – a $100 billion dollar project between Malaysia and China. The final chapter highlights concerns such as the debt levels of participating countries, and the country central to the project. Pakistan’s weak global financial standing is particularly mentioned as a matter of immense concern for the Belt and Road. Several scenarios concerning China’s future in the world are discussed. The Belt and Road is described as seeking to reshape the global order. However, the author is sceptical about Chinese dominance in the world’s affairs in the years to come.
The author assumes a balanced tone throughout the book, with some aspects in favour of the Peoples’ Republic of China and its President Xi Jinping. The book is far from an obdurate endorsement of the Belt and Road for interested readers, scholars, and casual enthusiasts of Chinese initiatives in global regions of note, and beyond. The book is a short read, with its contents minus the Notes and Index totalling 194 pages. A Preface to the book focuses on India’s strategies and involvement in the Belt and Road, and urges India to look beyond the Doklam standoff. The author is of the opinion that New Delhi’s stance towards the Belt and Road initiative is best espoused by its policy of non-alignment.
The book is well-written, and with a high standard of the English language. It is also highly descriptive of the Belt and Road project, and well-detailed. Errors are few and the language is fluid. The author is of the opinion that domination of the Eurasian belt with an aim to establish massive connectivity and infrastructure projects through large-scale investments and partnerships with the countries of the regions will rule the world, and China remains the leading country in this emerging domain. The author also endorses Indian projects ranging from eastern Africa to the western Asia-Pacific. In addition to China and India, the author alludes to the infrastructure projects of Japan, Iran, and European countries. As is evident from the title of the book, the Belt and Road seeks to establish a new world order, firmly predicated on a Chinese world order.
Jay Maniyar is a Researcher at National Maritime Foundation, India.
