'one belt one road'

Hannan Hussain of Islamabad Policy Research Institute writes, China's BRI strategies in Southeast Asia suggest a foundation in public diplomacy.

China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative clearly reads as an audacious vision for transforming the political and economic landscapes of Eurasia and Africa over the coming decades via a network of infrastructure partnerships across the energy, telecommunications, logistics, law, IT, and transportation sectors. 

China called for closer people-to-people bond when implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, in a bid to win public support for deepening bilateral and multinational cooperation.

The government is set to launch a new scholarship program for students coming from countries involved in the country’s Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the Beijing Times reported.

 In just seven (2008-2015) years, China has developed the longest network of high speed railway (about 16,000 km with the expectation of adding another 16,000 km by 2020) in the world as well as some of the best technologies related to high speed railway development. Besides its obvious economic and technological successes, China’s high speed railway also has huge foreign policy implications in three ways.