China’s OBOR Plan Leaves US Behind

With an estimated multi-year budget approaching $5 trillion, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s One Belt/One Road initiative envisions a grid of railways, shipping ports, airfields and cultural exchanges distributing the nation’s economic power.

“When you are growing, people want to know what you’re thinking about,” the networks’ deputy director for digital news Zhang Shilei said. “With OBOR, we are promoting globalization,” missoulian.com reported.

Officials from the city of Xi’an emphasize their city’s fundamental place in Chinese economy in a myriad of ways. Historically, they present the world-famous Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s 220 B.C. mausoleum, which rivals the Egyptian pharaohs’ tombs in both age and splendor. Currently, the Shaanxi provincial government surrounding Xi’an has overseen billions of dollars’ of investment in a trade logistics complex sending freight across Eurasia.

In Chinese language, the “One Belt” part of OBOR refers to the land routes while “One Road” covers ship traffic. Xi’an’s inland freight port intends to send goods through Kazakhstan to Europe, across the Himalayas to India and through Pakistan to North Africa.

 “Some have interpreted that as maybe another kind of bipolar competition similar to the Cold War,” said Abraham Kim, director of the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana. “But the US and China, as much as we talk about each other as competitors, our economies are very closely tied together. That’s different from the Cold War, where the US and USSR were isolated from each other. You can’t describe this as a zero-sum game.”

However, it is a game where the United States hasn’t exactly taken a seat at the table. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that President Donald Trump abandoned was widely seen as a framework for the United States and Asian nations to counter-balance China’s economic dominance. With TPP gone, the One Belt/One Road initiative is the biggest game around.

One Belt/One Road could take another leap later this month, when President Xi opens the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing Oct. 18. Like a five-year “State of the Union” address, the party congress meetings showcase the Chinese government’s coming plans.

It’s the time when Xi will send a signal to the world which directions he will prefer. OBOR is a new idea of how China will get along with people in the world, not only working with superpowers but other countries as well. It provides a new way to unite and collaborate with Third World and developing countries.