The Belt and Road Initiative as continuity in Chinese foreign policy

Abstract

The emergence of China as a major power has been accompanied by an unprecedented level of external activism, concretized in several regional and transcontinental projects among which the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most comprehensive one.  This article aims to assess the contribution of previous foreign policy initiatives to the BRI, and to evaluate potential implications for Chinese strategic autonomy. It argues that while the Chinese-led initiative based on increasing interdependence and connectivity has a high potential to contribute to common development and regional integration, it also presents some destabilizing risks. The cooperation patterns promoted within the BRI strengthen Chinese strategic autonomy by enhancing its key positions along networks of capital and infrastructure around the world, foster asymmetric partnerships, maximize its influence and consolidate its control over land routes from Central Asia to Europe and the SLOC beyond the South China Sea.  In discussing the implications raised by these aspects the article contends that in the long term, the BRI offers China significant opportunities to shape geo-economic landscape and the security architecture.