The Modern Silk Road – One Belt One Road
The modern Silk Road and 21st Maritime Silk Road
Shortly after the Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, he presented the The One Belt One Road Initiative (abbreviated OBOR) as a national strategy to the world. During the period of more than three years, OBOR has achieved certain results, first of all and mostly within China, after lots of publicity and propaganda nationwide. This mobilization has resulted in a widely accepted understanding that OBOR is a long-term strategy, not just a momentary impulsive action. Secondly it has also created certain influences in those countries along the OBOR routes that have witnessed the implementation of some projects.
This modern Silk Road and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, is a development strategy and framework that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily between China and the rest of Eurasia, which consists of two main components, the land-based "Silk Road Economic Belt" (SREB) and oceangoing "Maritime Silk Road" (MSR). Though initially the Initiative has included a total of 65 countries within the Belt and Road region, in actuality it is now an open and inclusive cooperation platform which embraces the whole world community.
However, looking at the overall strategy, the Initiative is still a loose action that lacks a clear defined goal and action plans, which has led to the blurred vision in the eyes of western countries, especially European countries.
That China would take its own national interests as a priority should not be blamed in any case. That is understandable. China has a lot of aspects to consider, such as economical, diplomatic, financial, border security, geopolitical. And these aspects have been reflected in promoting the domestic economy going outwards based on the international production capacity cooperation, increasing the global financial discourse power, mitigating national security threats, enlarging strategic space in Eurasia, ensuring connectivity for resources and trade.
Naturally, the OBOR Initiative is going to encourage China to be more proactive in the global governance.
The Belt and Road Initiative: 65 Countries and Beyond
The China International Trade Institute in August 2015, identified 65 countries along the Belt and Road that will be participating in the Initiative.
Economic Significance of the Belt and Road Countries.
Together, the countries along the Belt and Road will create an “economic cooperation area” that stretches from the Western Pacific to the Baltic Sea. According to our computation, these 65 countries jointly account for 62.3%, 30.0% and 24.0% of the world’s population, GDP and household consumption, respectively, today. Share in world total (%)
Regions & Provinces in China: Positioning in the Belt and Road Initiative
The One Belt One Road as we see it
Shortly after the Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, he presented the OBOR Initiative as a national strategy to the world. During the period of more than three years, B&R Initiative has achieved certain results, first of all and mostly within China, after lots of publicity and propaganda nationwide. This mobilization has resulted in a widely accepted understanding that OBOR is a long-term strategy, not just a momentary impulsive action. Secondly it has also created certain influences in those countries along the OBOR routes that have witnessed the implementation of some projects.
However, looking at the overall strategy, the Initiative is still a loose action that lacks a clear defined goal and action plans, which has led to the blurred vision in the eyes of western countries, especially European countries.
That China would take its own national interests as a priority should not be blamed in any case. That is understandable. China has a lot of aspects to consider, such as economical, diplomatic, financial, border security, geopolitical. And these aspects have been reflected in promoting the domestic economy going outwards based on the international production capacity cooperation, increasing the global financial discourse power, mitigating national security threats, enlarging strategic space in Eurasia, ensuring connectivity for resources and trade.
Naturally, the OBOR Initiative is going to encourage China to be more proactive in the global governance.
The most important aspects of One Belt One Road
In this OBOR tactic, joint development and mutual prosperity are very important, but the co-existing and inter-exchanging of cultures is the most critical.
A mixed world culture should be created during the process – a culture that is able to touch people’s heart, or lenient, or helpful in awakening human souls, or has inclusive universal values, or improves body-mind-spirit soundness, or promotes global peace and joint governance. It would be beneficial for the world if other cultures would be blended with the Chinese culture.
The Core Values of One Belt One Road
• One is MUTUALITY, i.e. mutual consultation, jointly building and sharing, which is very open and inclusive, even democratic. China welcomes cordially everyone to join together and it does not want to be dominant doing the one-man show.
• The other is to achieve PEACE through development and to promote regional security and stability through road connectivity and unimpeded trade.
Therefore, knowing about these core values would allow us to understand the worldview and humanity view of the Chinese people as a legacy. A pure and simple affection for human community, a typical way of thinking for altruism combined with self-interests.
The Human Community
If we take ourselves up to a higher standing point and look at the earth and humanity as a whole, or standing at the height of the universe, it would be quite natural to grasp the idea of “THE SHARED FUTURE OF HUMAN COMMUNITY”.
The damages that we have done onto the earth have reached the maximum height that all of us must wake up! We have to be clearly aware of the fact that human kind has been extinct (or been exterminated) several times in the long earth history. Thus it is easy to come to the conclusion that the earth will continue to exist but not necessarily human kind; the earth can (and is willing to) bring us along to play the game, or may not; she has protective functions and mechanism of self recovery which will be activated in certain stage; and now is such a stage.
As human kind we have also two choices, either we keep on playing irresponsibly as we have been doing up to now, and disappear collectively (in a few decades) or most of us disappear while some of us being left behind to take care of the aftermath; or, we hurry up the action to stop all deeds of harms to the earth and build up without delay the collective consciousness of “being benevolent and loving to protect the nature and lead a green and low-carbon life” and push strongly forward the realization of a shared future of human community.
The far-sighted Chinese leader Xi Jinping has recently put forward 5 directions and ways ahead for reaching at the shared future of human community:
• to establish partnership of equal treatment and mutual consultation and understanding (new model of partnership);
• to create a security pattern based on co-constructed and shared fairness and justice (security is a guarantee);
• to strive for open and innovative, inclusive and mutual beneficial development prospects (joint development);
• to promote cultural exchanges based on harmony without uniformity and incorporation of diversity (co-existing and blending of cultures);
• to construct an eco system with respect to nature and green development (sustainable development).
Thus, seen from the higher perspective, B&R is only a tactical target while the shared future of human community is the ultimate strategic goal.