China says no 'backroom deals' in new Silk Road initiative

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China says no 'backroom deals' in new Silk Road initiative
By Reuters
Published: March 8, 2018
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Xi Jinping assures openness and profitability for all parties PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING: China’s huge Belt and Road initiative to build a new Silk Road will respect global rules and be free of “backroom deals”, the foreign minister said on Thursday, defending a key policy of President Xi Jinping’s.

Unveiled in 2013, the Belt and Road project is aimed at
connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Pakistan and
Central Asia, and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

IS OBOR establishing footholds in Europe in the wake of Brexit?

Xi pledged $124 billion for the plan at a summit last May but it has faced suspicion in Western capitals that it is intended more to assert Chinese influence than Beijing’s professed desire to spread prosperity and that it will mostly benefit Chinese companies.

Visiting China in January, French President Emmanuel Macron
said Belt and Road could not be “one-way”.

Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual
meeting of parliament, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the
Belt and Road was a “sunshine initiative” that was open and for
all to benefit from.

“Everything will operate in the sunshine,” Wang said. “There
is no domination by one party; everyone participates equally. There are no backroom deals; there is openness and transparency. There is no winner-takes-all; only seeking win-win mutual benefit.”

Wang pointed to what he said were several already very
successful Belt and Road-linked projects, including building
power plants in Pakistan and China’s operation of Greece’s
largest port at Piraeus.

China’s Silk Road revival ‘hits hurdles’

“China and France have joined hands to build a nuclear power
station in Britain, becoming a model for cooperation in new
high-tech projects for the Belt and Road,” he said, referring to
the Hinkley Point scheme, which British Prime Minister Theresa
May initially put on hold when she came to office in 2016.

Wang said China was committed to best international
practice. “Belt and Road is a global public good, and of course
respects international rules. It is a global platform for
cooperation, and naturally will run according to market rules,”
he added. “It won’t only benefit China. Even more, it will bring
benefit to the world.”


Read more: China-Pakistan , France , Latest

 

[wiseone2]

spare us the snake oil. Without Iran and Russia China has no way of connecting by land to the Middle East

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

spare us the snake oil. Without Iran and Russia China has no way of connecting by land to the Middle East

Pakistan is partially middle east(baluchistan) and Iran is MiddleEast.
so technically you are wrong but China can dig an undersea tunnel to Oman from Pakistan..Thats something we might see in next 30-50 years.

 

[khansaheeb]

spare us the snake oil. Without Iran and Russia China has no way of connecting by land to the Middle East

The only snakes and snake oils are in New Delhi.

 

[wiseone2]

Pakistan is partially middle east(baluchistan) and Iran is MiddleEast.
so technically you are wrong but China can dig an undersea tunnel to Oman from Pakistan..Thats something we might see in next 30-50 years.

By most maps Pakistan is in South Asia.

if you knew something about submarine tunnels you would not come up with crazy ideas

 

[Cybernetics]

spare us the snake oil. Without Iran and Russia China has no way of connecting by land to the Middle East

What snake oil? OBOR will take decades to complete and is being undertaken in phases, have patience. The article is just listing out the parts currently being pushed for. The Russian line from the Far East is one of the hardest to complete due to the cost to build new transport infrastructure. A more feasible land connection line to connect to Europe by land is through Central Asian to Russia to Europe. The train line from China to Europe is already operational under a pilot program to iron out the kinks. Don't expect there to be massive volumes immediately, there is lots of organisational and other infrastructural issues to be worked out. China is already importing items like French and Spanish wines through this route.

Central Asia to Iran to Turkey to Europe line has high costs to build and geopolitical instability. This line will take awhile to complete. Central Asia's transport infrastructure will need to be built/upgraded before connection through Iran to Turkey to Europe can be made. This is currently underway with various localised projects, later to be connected to form a network.

For now the transport backbone from China to various markets is the maritime route. Pakistan/CPEC line is the only one that has the entire line encompassed within one nation. It is a hybrid land/sea route. First it serves as a connection between Pakistan and China for various purposes. Second it enables China another access point to the gulf region for importing energy and exporting processed goods. Third, if conditions are favourable, China will use this route to connect with and expand into the African market.

Thanks to efforts made by Ukraine to sustain trade after its Eastern border with Russia was under volatile conditions, they helped to open up another route to connect Europe with China and Middle East. This consists a combination of land and sea routes, it may seem like a lot of effort but it is feasible and under trial runs.

 

[wiseone2]

There are zero projects through Iran and Russia. Russia and Iran will extract their pound of flesh (read transit fees)
Right now OBOR is a smoke screen to take over Central Asia

 

[Cybernetics]

There are zero projects through Iran and Russia. Russia and Iran will extract their pound of flesh (read transit fees)
Right now OBOR is a smoke screen to take over Central Asia

China to Europe railway already goes through Russia. Currently the gauges are different and needs to switch train engines, necessitating a land port facility. In the future there might be a single gauge rail built. Another method China is working on is building a train that can switch its gauge, so it can utilise the whole rail infrastructure without a port facility transferring cargo. So far, the project is viable without high "transit fees".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...y-now-begins-in-china/?utm_term=.6c400b974c6a

China is going to build a high speed rail line in Russia connecting Moscow with Kazan. Construction is set to start this year and projected to be complete in 2022.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/17/c_136531729.htm

Land connection with Iran is more difficult due to the number of countries and the difficult terrain it passes. In addition there are some geopolitical issues. Iran as a transit route can be by passed with the trans Caspian sea and trans Caucuses route.

 

[wiseone2]

China is going to build a high speed rail line in Russia connecting Moscow with Kazan. Construction is set to start this year and projected to be complete in 2022.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/17/c_136531729.htm

The article clearly says:
Russia to start construction of first high-speed railway in 2018

 

[Cybernetics]

The article clearly says:
Russia to start construction of first high-speed railway in 2018

I said "China is going to build...this year", this year is 2018.

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

By most maps Pakistan is in South Asia.

if you knew something about submarine tunnels you would not come up with crazy ideas

Geography of Pakistan is divide between middle East central Asia and south Asia.

Crazy or whatever this is what future is..
It will take time but it's possible.

 

[wiseone2]

China to Europe railway already goes through Russia. China is going to build a high speed rail line in Russia connecting Moscow with Kazan. Construction is set to start this year and projected to be complete in 2022.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/17/c_136531729.htm

Land connection with Iran is more difficult due to the number of countries and the difficult terrain it passes. In addition there are some geopolitical issues. Iran as a transit route can be by passed with the trans Caspian sea and trans Caucuses route.

Russia to start construction of first high-speed railway in 2018

High-speed train models are displayed at the 4th China-Russia Expo held in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Kai)

MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia will start to build its first high-speed railway linking Moscow and Kazan in 2018, said Alexander Misharin, First Vice-President of Russian Railways, on Wednesday.

The design of the high-speed railroad will be completed by the end of 2017, he said at a forum.

In November 2016, Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov said the rail link is planned to enter service by 2022.

The 770-kilometer-long railway will cost about 1.3 trillion rubles (about 22.4 billion U.S. dollars). The high-speed trains will run at a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour, cutting the travel time from the current 14 hours to 3.5 hours.

The Moscow-Kazan railway is expected to be part of a high-speed rail line connecting Beijing with Moscow in the future and facilitate economic integration along the route.

Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan in European Russia and one of the country's industrial and economic centers.

__________________

Global trade take off when maritime routes were discovered
Why would anyone go back to the old days of paying tolls to every tom dick and harry ?
It is not happening