The belt and road initiative in Southwest China: responses from Yunnan province
TL;DR: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of extensive analysis since late 2013 as mentioned in this paper, and most of this views it as a manifestation of China's approach to global issues under Xi Jinping, whethe...
Abstract: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of extensive analysis since late 2013. Most of this views it as a manifestation of China’s approach to global issues under Xi Jinping, whethe...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a spatial perspective to examine the nature of China's transnational influence, focusing on the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for international relations.
Abstract: This paper develops a spatial perspective to examine the nature of China’s transnational influence, focusing on the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for international relations. D...
56 citations
Cites background from "The belt and road initiative in Sou..."
...At the same time, economic interests and structural changes at the provincial level are crucial factors shaping China’s external economic relations (Summers, 2019)....
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TL;DR: The China-Laos railway project is a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as discussed by the authors, which aims to connect China and Laos through a railway network.
Abstract: Previously articulated within several regional multilateral frameworks, the “China-Laos Railway” eventually turned into a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Started in 2016...
28 citations
Cites background from "The belt and road initiative in Sou..."
...The BRI “China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor” with its flagship China-Laos Railway furthermore rests on a longer history of Yunnan’s provincial authorities’ constant efforts to develop into as a transregional “bridgehead” (Li 2014; Su 2013; Summers 2013, 2019)....
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TL;DR: The authors used bibliometric data from 1583 articles from 2013 to 2019 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases to identify and analyze the intellectual structure, hotspots, and emerging trends in this field.
Abstract: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted increasing attention worldwide since its inception in 2013. Although the research is fast increasing in terms of publications, there is a lack of knowledge about the intellectual structure, research trends, and appropriate theories underpinning. Using bibliometric data from 1583 articles from 2013 to 2019 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, we used bibliometric techniques and scientometric analyses to identify and analyze the intellectual structure, hotspots, and emerging trends in this field. We identified 18 clusters that we categorized into three groups for thematic discussion. Research gaps and future research directions were identified and proposed after qualitative content analysis. By providing the big picture of the latest research on BRI since it was initiated, this paper serves as a one-stop shop for multi-disciplinary research on the topic.
20 citations
Cites background from "The belt and road initiative in Sou..."
...[251], Gong & Ding [249], Liu & Dunford [64], Qin & Chong [13], Summers [248], Xu et al....
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...Summers [248] explored the principal responses to the BRI on the provincial level in Yunnan, situated in southwestern China and bordering Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam....
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TL;DR: This article studied how different provinces within China act as international relations players of their own accord, while Chinese paradiplomacy has received growing academic attention, little is known about how different province within China acts as international relation players.
Abstract: While Chinese paradiplomacy has received growing academic attention, little is known about how different provinces within China act as international relations players of their own accord. This pape...
14 citations
Cites methods from "The belt and road initiative in Sou..."
...This is consistent with interpretations of the BRI as a framework of “interpretative leniency”, as an “omnibus” policy, and as an extremely loose, indeterminate scheme within which provincial actors can compete for external influences (Jones & Zeng, 2019; Li, 2019; Summers, 2019)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the dynamic transformation of Yunnan's border regime during the early twenty-first century through the Great Western Development Strategy, Bridgehead and Belt and Road Initiati...
Abstract: This article details the dynamic transformation of Yunnan’s border regime during the early twenty-first century through the Great Western Development Strategy, Bridgehead and Belt and Road Initiati...
12 citations
Cites background from "The belt and road initiative in Sou..."
...Yet, through transborder energy projects with neighboring states, multiple Chinese actors develop stronger trading relationships, deeper integration and consequently advance ‘brand China’ through energy diplomacy (Freeman 2017; Tubilewicz 2016)....
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TL;DR: For example, the one belt, one road (one-one-road) initiative as discussed by the authors aims to expand land and maritime transport links between China and Europe, and if successful, it will transform economic relations across large parts of Eurasia.
Abstract: China's domestic politics and foreign policy have evolved considerably under President Xi Jinping. Domestically the regime has actively promoted the idea of the ‘China dream’ to restore optimism and enthusiasm about its future, particularly among young people. Yet it has also sought to differentiate the socialist China dream from any resemblance to the American dream. Its main emphasis is on making China ‘strong and powerful’ again. In foreign policy, the leadership has become more active. While China has pursued a more robust policy in the South China Sea, it has also launched two extremely ambitious long-term projects to expand land and maritime transport links between China and Europe, termed the ‘one belt, one road’ initiative. They aim to promote development of western China, but if successful, they should also help to transform economic relations across large parts of Eurasia. In geopolitical terms, they will expand China's shadow over regions of the world where hitherto its presence has been relatively modest. They should strengthen links with Europe, as well as with other countries along the routes, to counterbalance potentially conflictual relations with the US. However, success will require active and enthusiastic cooperation from many neighbours. For that reason the risks are as great as the ambition.
391 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the Silk Road vision is more of a "spatial fix" than a geopolitical manoeuvre, and that the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy.
Abstract: This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre.
222 citations
16 May 2016
TL;DR: The authors examines the role of peripheral diplomacy in Xi's emerging grand strategy and traces linkages between ideas, institutions, and behavior in Chinese foreign policy, arguing that Beijing is combining new ideas (China Dream, Asia Dream), new policies (comprehensive diplomacy and security), new institutions (AIIB) and new projects (BRI) to build what Xi calls the community of shared destiny.
Abstract: Since Xi Jinping became leader in 2012, he has redirected Chinese foreign policy. This article examines the role of peripheral diplomacy in Xi’s emerging grand strategy. While it is popular to look to theories of the international system – offensive realism and liberal institutionalism – to explore this issue, this article follows constructivism to take seriously the role of ideas and domestic politics in foreign policy-making. Through an analysis of official and unofficial sources, it traces linkages between ideas, institutions, and behavior in Chinese foreign policy. In particular, it argues that Beijing is combining new ideas (China Dream, Asia Dream), new policies (comprehensive diplomacy and security), new institutions (AIIB) and new projects (BRI) to build what Xi calls the ‘community of shared destiny.’ The goal is to weave neighboring countries into a Sino-centric network of economic, political, cultural, and security relations. Beijing’s grand strategy thus is to re-constitute the regional order ...
204 citations
TL;DR: The massive "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) as discussed by the authors is designed to build infrastructure and coordinate policymaking across Eurasia and eastern Africa, and is widely seen as a clearly-defined, top-down "gr...
Abstract: China’s massive ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) – designed to build infrastructure and coordinate policymaking across Eurasia and eastern Africa – is widely seen as a clearly-defined, top-down ‘gr...
152 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use hydropower development on the Lancang (upper Mekong River) and Nu (upper Salween River) as a lens for exploring institutional change and decision-making processes among governmental units and power companies under the Great Western Development campaign.
Abstract: This article uses hydropower development on the Lancang (upper Mekong River) and Nu (upper Salween River) as a lens for exploring institutional change and decision-making processes among governmental units and hydropower companies under the Great Western Development campaign. Scholars of the campaign tend to focus on central government policies and individual provinces' responses, and on the campaign's role as a central-state-strengthening project aimed at curbing regionalist tendencies. Large-scale hydropower development in Yunnan, however, is a complex affair involving national and provincial power companies, regional grids and governmental units at many levels. Conceptualizing Yunnan as the “powershed” of Guangdong, I argue that the Western Development campaign paves the way for increasingly strong interprovincial linkages between Guangdong and Yunnan that are not necessarily central-state-strengthening, and that consideration of such linkages should be fundamental to any attempt to understand the impacts of China's western development.
146 citations