Should the UK participate in the Belt-and-Road Initiative?
China's Belt and Road Initiative has expanded since 2013 to include nearly 150 countries through MoUs for infrastructure, trade and investment projects. The UK joined the related Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member in 2015 but has never signed a BRI MoU and stated it has no plans to formally join. Under the current Labour government, the UK pursues pragmatic economic engagement with China including trade talks and services partnerships while treating it as a systemic challenge on security.
4 Opinions
I’m going with “hell no” on this one, since the Chinese initiatives were described as a benign alternative to the established World Bank, whereas in practice has put many countries in a debt trap, mitigated by granting the PRC control over critical infrastructure and resources. Good old-fashioned imperialism.
Where China has bought up industries in other countries, it appears they lack the enthusiasm to invest. Meaning certain industries may be running on a shoestring, with fewer staff.
We've spent forty years watching Westminster sell off British industry, steel, and ports to foreign buyers, and it’s been a disaster for our towns. Signing up to Beijing’s Belt and Road project just to beg for infrastructure cash is peak desperation. It undercuts British workers, compromises our national security, and ties our hands to an authoritarian state
China has showed itself to be a comprehensive economic force and the rising star of the 21st Century. If the UK wishes to stay ahead of the game, taking our bets with China is more likely to end in success than sticking with the faltering Euro-American bloc.