The People Republic of China and its President Xi Jinping’s belligerence stems from the fact that its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative has spread its tentacles to nearly every continent of the planet. The BRI is China’s backdoor tactic to fulfil its neo-colonial dreams. China’s BRI and its debt-trap diplomacy go hand in hand and by giving away multitudes of shark-loans to poor countries in Africa and Asia, the Dragon has usurped limitless power. China sees BRI as a tool for total world domination.
However, the new world order comprising the likes of the US, Australia, and India has risen to the menace of the middle-kingdom. The trio is now looking to dismantle China’s ghoulish dreams of world domination—one project at a time.
The United States has taken the first swing at disembowelling China by taking out its major BRI player. The Trump administration has targeted the lifeline of BRI- the infamous China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which has a confessed portfolio of 700 projects in more than 100 countries with overseas investments worth 170 billion US dollars.
As reported by TFI yesterday, after the US flew spy planes over the Paracel Islands, the PLA-Navy, threatened by the advances of Washington, fired four ballistic missiles in the disputed waterways to vent out its anger.
The firing of the missiles was enough for Trump to come down on China and he instantly responded by sanctioning 24 Chinese companies for helping China build “military islands in the South China Sea. These companies include CCCC subsidiaries and the sanctions have caused a severe jolt to Xi Jinping’s BRI.
The move to impose visa and trade restrictions on the CCCC subsidiaries is a statement of intent from the Trump administration. It is showing how it can cause irreparable damage to Xi Jinping’s BRI- a trillion Dollars project to establish Chinese hegemony in every corner of the world from Latin America to West Asia and Africa, and from Europe to Asia-Pacific.
The US reserves the right to strategically choose the CCCC subsidiaries involved in BRI projects around the world and sanction them at a breakneck speed.
There’s no doubt that the CCCC forms the fulcrum of China’s BRI ambitions and going after it has been proven a masterstroke on part of Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. CCCC is the largest infrastructure provider in entire China in terms of the contract value. From Highways, Expressways, airports, seaports, industrial parks, subways, property development to rail-road projects, the China Communications Construction Company builds everything that you can imagine.
While Trump goes after CCCC, the Scott Morrison government in the down under country has announced that it is bringing a Foreign Relations Bill, which would give Australia’s Federal government the power to review, prevent or terminate all agreements signed by the State and Territory governments, Local Councils and even Public Universities with foreign governments.
This legislative move is targeted directly at the Australian state of Victoria’s $107 billion BRI project Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China signed last year. With FR Bill, China’s hold over Victoria will finally loosen and Scott Morrison and his party will be able to quash China’s increasing influence in the region.
However, the effect of the legislation will go far beyond Victoria as Morrison is trying to weed out Chinese influence throughout his country from State/Territory governments to Universities and even Local bodies.
Reported extensively by TFI, the communist state of China had made deep inroads into the Australian way of life. From hoarding medical equipments to controlling the water bodies to owning the electrical grid of the country, China has done everything possible in the book to gain an edge over the Australian government in its own country.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor which is a subset of China’s BRI passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and New Delhi has already shown with the abrogation of article 370 that New Delhi is coming for the region and therefore Xi’s plans in the region are staring at an ominous threat in the form of India.
Last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted in the lower house of Parliament after the abrogation of article 370 that PoK and Aksai Chin are part of Jammu and Kashmir and thumpingly said, “We are ready to give our lives for it”.
Not many know but 24 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly are left vacant for the people of PoK. Shah later reiterated his statement at a news channel event that PoK is an integral part of India and a decision regarding its official inclusion as a part of the Union of India will be taken at a right time in the future.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had recently added PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan in its weather forecast in an attempt to send a message to Pakistan that India was now calling the shots in the region.
The Maldives, an island country in south-east Asia was reeling under the crushing debts of China due to the shark-loans handed out to the radicalized previous regime of Abdullah Yameen. However, India like a messiah had swooped in and handed half-a-billion Line of Credit to the country and so far the Maldives government hasn’t stopped thanking New Delhi for its generosity.
Sri Lanka after losing the Hambantota port to China through BRI has now returned to India’s fold and has said that it will follow an “India first” policy.
The examples are aplenty that show that China’s dreams of creating a legacy, albeit a tainted legacy through BRI are falling apart like a house of cards. Beijing is rattled with the developments and is scurrying around from pillar to post, looking for cover.