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China's naval parade and BRI have something in common
Adam Garrie - 23-Apr-2019
Editor's Note: Adam Garrie is the director of the UK-based global policy and analysis think tank Eurasia Future and co-host of a talk show "The History Boys." The article reflects the author's opinion and not necessarily views of CGTN.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has kicked off large scale multinational naval drills off the coast of Qingdao to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. The events have been one part celebration and one part display of cooperative endeavors between multiple naval forces from Asia and beyond.
Countries that are participating in the drills include Japan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, The Philippines, Brunei, Australia, Thailand and Vietnam. During the events, China publicly unveiled its first 10,000-ton class guided missile destroyer to much acclaim from international naval experts.
Although the purpose of the joint naval drills is to explore the prospect of improved joint security cooperation, it is heavily symbolic that the drills come days before the second Belt and Road Forum for international cooperation (BRF) in Beijing.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is strictly economic in nature and does not involve any military, security or political components. BRI is, however, a project designed to facilitate greater world peace by replacing a competitive global atmosphere with a cooperative one.
A new type of nuclear submarine of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is reviewed during a naval parade staged to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy on the sea off Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 23, 2019. /Xinhua Photo
As such, the world that can result from multilateral commitments to BRI could be one in which cross-border conflicts, regional rivalries and global suspicions would be replaced by nations throughout the world using the revenues derived from expanding trading and investment opportunities to further develop their own nations with the cooperation of win-win partners.
This naturally implies a world whose resources are aimed and enhancing the quality of life for all, rather than a global environment in which people are threatened by an atmosphere of militarism.
This more peaceful world that BRI aims to create will give people on all continents an opportunity to play a part in creating a better global environment that focuses on material and human development as a priority while security will shift from one aimed against other nations to one aimed at combating the three evils of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
Because of this, it is crucial that multiple nations, with histories of relations with China that are highly varied, all came to freely participate in the drills and celebrations at Qingdao. This demonstrates that the spirit of cooperation that defines China's relations with foreign powers is alive and well not only in the sphere of trade, development and sustainable finance, but also in the field of mutual security concerns.
Even nations like India and Japan have self-evidently come to the realization that the world will be a safer place when cooperation tears down the walls of suspicion and that a harmonious approach to security is vastly more important than one based on the gamesmanship of the past.
A banner of the second BRI forum is displayed on a street in Beijing, April 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
In this sense, it is also noteworthy that while countries like Russia and India share a position in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with China, multiple countries from the neighboring ASEAN group of nations also attended.
This indicates a wider pan-Asian attitude that looks to collectively shape what is being called the Asian century on the principles of cooperation on matters of mutual concern that is combined with a spirit of fraternal non-interference into the internal affairs of partner nations.
Although the Qingdao drills are a separate event from the forthcoming BRF, both events serve to highlight how much more can be accomplished for the world as a whole when cooperation, mutual respect and positive exchange form the basis of relations between nations and peoples.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414d32456a4d34457a6333566d54/index.html
Thailand To Sign Accord With China, Laos On Bridge For High-Speed Railway
April 24, 2019
By BenarNews
aos will sign a memorandum of cooperation on a new bridge for a railway across the Mekong River during Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s Beijing visit this week, a Thai foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
The bridge would link Thailand’s northeastern Nong Khai province with the Laotian capital Vientiane, Thai officials told BenarNews, in what analysts believe will reinforce China’s ambitions to build a high-speed railway network in Southeast Asia, stretching through Malaysia and feeding into Singapore.
Prayuth, who is scheduled to be in the Chinese capital on April 26-27, is expected to sign the trilateral pact on the sidelines of a conference of world leaders on China’s massive One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure initiative, Busadee Santipitaks, spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs, told BenarNews.
“Thailand, Laos PDR and China will sign a three-nation memorandum of cooperation to build a bridge for a high-speed railway at Thai-Lao border,” Busadee said.
Thai officials did not respond to BenarNews emails requesting more details on the memorandum.
China, which aims to increase its footprint in Southeast Asia through OBOR, has managed to push ahead with its strategy to build a trans-Asian railway network.
Last month, Laotian officials announced that a 414-km (257-mile) high-speed railway linking Vientiane with Kunming city, capital of China’s southwestern province of Yunnan, was almost half-complete and on track to be in service by December 2021. Construction for that project began four years ago.
Under China’s planned 3,000-km (1,875-mile) pan-Asian railway network, Chinese rail lines will extend farther south – all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore, one of Washington’s closest allies in the region and a strategic gateway to the Strait of Malacca.
China’s OBOR initiative has drawn criticism, including from Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, who told reporters last month that the Philippines should be wary of Beijing’s “debt-trap diplomacy” that includes extending excessive credit with the alleged intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.
Economists contend that the initiative forces emerging economies to take on unsustainable levels of debt to fund Beijing-backed projects, highlighting such concerns after a Chinese state-owned company took over the majority stake in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port after Colombo struggled to repay its loans from China.
Thailand officially kicked off its high-speed railway project in December 2017 when Prayuth and Chinese officials led a ground-breaking ceremony for a 3.5-km (2-mile) segment of the rail in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The junta-led government under Prayuth has approved a 179-billion baht (U.S. $5.8 billion) budget for the first phase of the 253-km (158-mile) railway linking Nakhon Ratchasima with Bangkok.
The second phase linking Nakhon Ratchasima to Laos is awaiting approval, officials told BenarNews.
OBOR, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature policy, is an estimated U.S. $1 trillion-plus initiative that stretches across 70 countries. It aims to weave a network of railways, ports and bridges, linking China with Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Prayuth’s Beijing visit would include a roundtable meeting with leaders of 38 countries during which he is expected to express the commitment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support China’s OBOR projects, Thai government spokesman Lt. Gen. Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak told BenarNews.
“First, we stress Thailand’s role as the ASEAN chair in supporting and committing to China’s attempt to link sub-regions and regions,” he said.
Prayuth, as current chairman of the 10-member ASEAN, will meet Xi and other Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Li Kequiang and Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng to discuss ways to bolster bilateral relationship and economic cooperation, Weerachon said.
Prayuth will be accompanied by his deputy, Somkid Jatusripitak, the minister of transport and the minister of foreign affairs, he said.
China has ranked as Thailand’s largest trading partner since 2012, buying about U.S. $30 billion of Thai products last year, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/24042...-china-laos-on-bridge-for-high-speed-railway/
***
Reserved for reference. Thanks you @beijingwalker
Adam Garrie - 23-Apr-2019
Editor's Note: Adam Garrie is the director of the UK-based global policy and analysis think tank Eurasia Future and co-host of a talk show "The History Boys." The article reflects the author's opinion and not necessarily views of CGTN.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has kicked off large scale multinational naval drills off the coast of Qingdao to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. The events have been one part celebration and one part display of cooperative endeavors between multiple naval forces from Asia and beyond.
Countries that are participating in the drills include Japan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, The Philippines, Brunei, Australia, Thailand and Vietnam. During the events, China publicly unveiled its first 10,000-ton class guided missile destroyer to much acclaim from international naval experts.
Although the purpose of the joint naval drills is to explore the prospect of improved joint security cooperation, it is heavily symbolic that the drills come days before the second Belt and Road Forum for international cooperation (BRF) in Beijing.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is strictly economic in nature and does not involve any military, security or political components. BRI is, however, a project designed to facilitate greater world peace by replacing a competitive global atmosphere with a cooperative one.
A new type of nuclear submarine of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is reviewed during a naval parade staged to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy on the sea off Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 23, 2019. /Xinhua Photo
As such, the world that can result from multilateral commitments to BRI could be one in which cross-border conflicts, regional rivalries and global suspicions would be replaced by nations throughout the world using the revenues derived from expanding trading and investment opportunities to further develop their own nations with the cooperation of win-win partners.
This naturally implies a world whose resources are aimed and enhancing the quality of life for all, rather than a global environment in which people are threatened by an atmosphere of militarism.
This more peaceful world that BRI aims to create will give people on all continents an opportunity to play a part in creating a better global environment that focuses on material and human development as a priority while security will shift from one aimed against other nations to one aimed at combating the three evils of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
Because of this, it is crucial that multiple nations, with histories of relations with China that are highly varied, all came to freely participate in the drills and celebrations at Qingdao. This demonstrates that the spirit of cooperation that defines China's relations with foreign powers is alive and well not only in the sphere of trade, development and sustainable finance, but also in the field of mutual security concerns.
Even nations like India and Japan have self-evidently come to the realization that the world will be a safer place when cooperation tears down the walls of suspicion and that a harmonious approach to security is vastly more important than one based on the gamesmanship of the past.
A banner of the second BRI forum is displayed on a street in Beijing, April 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
In this sense, it is also noteworthy that while countries like Russia and India share a position in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with China, multiple countries from the neighboring ASEAN group of nations also attended.
This indicates a wider pan-Asian attitude that looks to collectively shape what is being called the Asian century on the principles of cooperation on matters of mutual concern that is combined with a spirit of fraternal non-interference into the internal affairs of partner nations.
Although the Qingdao drills are a separate event from the forthcoming BRF, both events serve to highlight how much more can be accomplished for the world as a whole when cooperation, mutual respect and positive exchange form the basis of relations between nations and peoples.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414d32456a4d34457a6333566d54/index.html
Thailand To Sign Accord With China, Laos On Bridge For High-Speed Railway
April 24, 2019
By BenarNews
aos will sign a memorandum of cooperation on a new bridge for a railway across the Mekong River during Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s Beijing visit this week, a Thai foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
The bridge would link Thailand’s northeastern Nong Khai province with the Laotian capital Vientiane, Thai officials told BenarNews, in what analysts believe will reinforce China’s ambitions to build a high-speed railway network in Southeast Asia, stretching through Malaysia and feeding into Singapore.
Prayuth, who is scheduled to be in the Chinese capital on April 26-27, is expected to sign the trilateral pact on the sidelines of a conference of world leaders on China’s massive One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure initiative, Busadee Santipitaks, spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs, told BenarNews.
“Thailand, Laos PDR and China will sign a three-nation memorandum of cooperation to build a bridge for a high-speed railway at Thai-Lao border,” Busadee said.
Thai officials did not respond to BenarNews emails requesting more details on the memorandum.
China, which aims to increase its footprint in Southeast Asia through OBOR, has managed to push ahead with its strategy to build a trans-Asian railway network.
Last month, Laotian officials announced that a 414-km (257-mile) high-speed railway linking Vientiane with Kunming city, capital of China’s southwestern province of Yunnan, was almost half-complete and on track to be in service by December 2021. Construction for that project began four years ago.
Under China’s planned 3,000-km (1,875-mile) pan-Asian railway network, Chinese rail lines will extend farther south – all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore, one of Washington’s closest allies in the region and a strategic gateway to the Strait of Malacca.
China’s OBOR initiative has drawn criticism, including from Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, who told reporters last month that the Philippines should be wary of Beijing’s “debt-trap diplomacy” that includes extending excessive credit with the alleged intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.
Economists contend that the initiative forces emerging economies to take on unsustainable levels of debt to fund Beijing-backed projects, highlighting such concerns after a Chinese state-owned company took over the majority stake in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port after Colombo struggled to repay its loans from China.
Thailand officially kicked off its high-speed railway project in December 2017 when Prayuth and Chinese officials led a ground-breaking ceremony for a 3.5-km (2-mile) segment of the rail in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The junta-led government under Prayuth has approved a 179-billion baht (U.S. $5.8 billion) budget for the first phase of the 253-km (158-mile) railway linking Nakhon Ratchasima with Bangkok.
The second phase linking Nakhon Ratchasima to Laos is awaiting approval, officials told BenarNews.
OBOR, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature policy, is an estimated U.S. $1 trillion-plus initiative that stretches across 70 countries. It aims to weave a network of railways, ports and bridges, linking China with Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Prayuth’s Beijing visit would include a roundtable meeting with leaders of 38 countries during which he is expected to express the commitment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support China’s OBOR projects, Thai government spokesman Lt. Gen. Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak told BenarNews.
“First, we stress Thailand’s role as the ASEAN chair in supporting and committing to China’s attempt to link sub-regions and regions,” he said.
Prayuth, as current chairman of the 10-member ASEAN, will meet Xi and other Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Li Kequiang and Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng to discuss ways to bolster bilateral relationship and economic cooperation, Weerachon said.
Prayuth will be accompanied by his deputy, Somkid Jatusripitak, the minister of transport and the minister of foreign affairs, he said.
China has ranked as Thailand’s largest trading partner since 2012, buying about U.S. $30 billion of Thai products last year, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/24042...-china-laos-on-bridge-for-high-speed-railway/
***
Reserved for reference. Thanks you @beijingwalker
