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Home › Forums › Core Seminars › East Asia Origins to 1800, Spring 2021 › Sessions 3&4 - April 10
Deirdre Harris.
stubingChina’s Belt and Road Initiative in Action: Economic, Environmental, Social and Political Impact
Register for the Saturday webinar on Zoom.
David Lampton, Johns Hopkins University
Prof. Lampton is co-author of Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia (2020), which looks the strengths and weaknesses of the BRI in design and implementation. It explores how politics within eight Southeast Asian nations help shape what gets built and how it impacts relations with Beijing. The book draws on fieldwork in China and throughout Southeast Asia to examine the role of infrastructure in strengthening Chinese influence and in advancing the development aims of individual Southeast Asian nations.
Readings:
Jessica C. Liao, North Carolina State University
Prof. Liao is the author of Developmental States and Business Activism: East Asia’s Trade Dispute Settlement (2015) and a number of articles on environmental issues associated with Chinese energy and mining projects in Southeast Asia. She’s carried out research in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia and has also written on Chinese and Japanese high-speed rail building in the region. Two of her most recent articles look at financing for coal-fired power plants and management at energy and mining projects in Southeast Asia.
Dru Gladney, Pomona College
Additional resources (optional):
Melina MelgozaI greatly appreciated this week’s texts and their focus on propaganda and media in modern China--especially related to the infrastructure projects.
Firstly, these texts and videos made me think about Critical Media Literacy, a framework coined by Kellner & Share in 2006. I use this framework in my classroom all the time and students are able to deconstruct, question, analyze, and interpret historical and contemporary media. “Critical media literacy is an educational response that expands the notion of literacy to include different forms of mass communication, popular culture, and new technologies. It deepens the potential of literacy education to critically analyze relationships between media and audiences, information, and power. Along with this mainstream analysis, alternative media production empowers students to create their own messages that can challenge media texts and narratives. Put simply, critical media literacy has readers interrogating text to examine and challenge the dominant power structures that audiences work to make meaning between the dominant, oppositional, and negotiated readings of media.” It would be very interesting in the classroom to use the CML framework and it apply it to Chinese propaganda--in particular the propaganda we saw today "Lyrics Would Like to Build a Road" song and other forms of propaganda.
I was particularly intrigued in the portion where Professor Dube, in “The Chinese Dream/One Belt, One Read Initiative” says, “When I am talking about something related to diet, health, and pollution, why can’t I use a China example? When I am talking about social interaction, I can use a discussion about social media in China, when I am talking about technology, I can use a China example.” It made me think about how I might be able to embed the conceptual understandings of Critical Media Literacy into the conversation—including social constructivism, languages/semiotics, audience/positionality, political of representation, production/institutions, and social/environmental justice. Similarly, it made me think about how we might be able to engage in conversation about China’s massive belt and road initiative in the classroom through a critical media lens. Without a doubt, it’s a massive and impressive infrastructure project; however, I want students to be able to understand and answer the question: why might this be seen as a disturbing expansion of Chinese power and why do so many oppose to the Belt and Road initiative?
Students can then again engage in answering some of the Critical Media Literacy Framework questions to better question and interpret the media surrounding this massive project:
In particular, I found the “MA Thesis on China Media BRI Videos 2018” to be particularly intriguing and helpful with the work I do with my students. In the chapter titled, “China’s propaganda system.” I think it will be interesting to embed many of the lessons discussed there in my classroom—such as, the “propaganda use as a vitally important and legitimate tool to educate the masses and shape society.” Similarly, it would be interesting to analyze the concept of “the entanglement between internal/domestic and external/foreign propaganda systems.” (P. 14)
There are many more questions that can be asked from this week's texts, videos, and propaganda analyses, but here are a few more that I thought I'd pose to the group and my future classroom:
1. What role does propaganda play in developing nationalist sentiment?
2. How might the lyrics to a song play a role in influencing the masses?
3. Who does the infrastructure initiative advantange? Who does the infrastructure initiative disadvantage? As a result, how might this project influence the way people feel about it, based on their positionality.
Here is some more information on Kellner & Share and their CML framework:
Todd RutleyThe April 10 seminar is titled: "China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Action: Economic, Environmental, Social and Political Impact".
1. The Chinese Dream/One Belt, One Road Initiative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHaNbPNeJs. Presentation by Clayton Dube on July 26, 2017
2. David Lampton On China’s Effort To Create An Intercountry Railway System. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjm8JedfcR4
3. Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B61rov4Q71A
4. U.S.-China Relations And Global Uncertainty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWjtc0kiwU
https://reconnectingasia.csis.org/analysis/historical-atlas/ Historical Atlas:12 Maps Covering 12,000 Years of Silk Road History
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to providing strategic insights and policy solutions to help decisionmakers chart a course toward a better world.
Todd RutleyChinese government media outlets have produced many videos promoting the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI, One Belt One Road) that target audiences ranging from children, to high school age students, to adults. These are excellent examples of modern "soft power" or national propaganda.
1. The Belt and Road is How (hao!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0lJc3PMNIg
2. I’d Like to Build the World a Road version 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLm2m9Sw8ZA Note that the woman singer is wearing a Han style dress. The "Hanfu" culture revival is also interesting as it relates to China's Han nationalist movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanfu
3. I’d Like to Build the World a Road version 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdF7wi4LA4
4. Animated One Belt One Road Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdPK1v0UxqQ
6. Let's Go Belt and Road. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayBuFLjOik
Lyrics to the first two songs are attached below, with the original Coke & Seekers lyrics, in case you want to sing along.
The attached MA Thesis by Julia Voermans discusses these videos
This material may be of interest to teachers of international relations, media/communications or modern China.
Professor David Shambaugh has spoken at USC many times and you can see him at the link below. One of his Foreign Affairs articles is attached.
https://china.usc.edu/site-search/shambaugh
Todd RutleyThe Belt & Road Initiative was launched in 2013 by PRC President Xi Jinping. The BRI focuses on building infrastructure to promote trade and economic development. While the BRI is often described as a bold new initiative, it can also be seen as a bold but old initiative inspired by China’s first emperor. That is the opinion I will seek to support in this note.
Why write this note? Until taking this class I had never studied ancient China – it seemed too distant to be of relevance to my interest in Chinese politics and economics today -- and so I was unable to see the recurring ideas and themes in Chinese history. Now I am starting to see how modern Chinese leaders draw lessons from their history and it is an idea I want to explore.
Philosophical Links from Qin Legalism to Xi Jinping Neo-Legalism
Shi Huangdi was motivated by Legalist philosophy focused on creating and using power in statecraft (Legalism is a like modern Realism in international relations.) The Legalist philosophy has been interpreted by Orville Schell as promoting “a wealthy state and a strong army” (富国强兵). This Qin dynasty legalist idea is shortened to “wealth and power” (富强), the title of Schell’s 2013 book.
China’s first emperor wisely understood that the state must promote wealth and economic development in order to become strong militarily. This idea motivated the emperor’s many actions noted below. The pursuit of “wealth & power” also motivates the actions of Xi Jinping today.
So, what is the point of this comparison? The lesson is that learning about ancient Chinese philosophy is a key starting point to understanding China today.
9 Similarities between Shi Huangdi Actions and the BRI Today
Shi Huangdi sought to unify the land by strengthening the economy and building a strong military. He did this through several actions that have parallels today.
Conclusions
While China’s first dynasty collapsed after only 15 years, the influences of legalist philosophy that guided Shi Huangdi over 2000 years ago can be seen motivating and guiding the Belt and Road Initiative in 2021. Stay tuned, perhaps Xi Jinping will bring back the “mandate of heaven” next.
References
Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century (Schell & Delury 2013)
https://www.shine.cn/feature/art-culture/1902159623/
http://sites.asiasociety.org/chinawealthpower/a-wealthy-state-and-a-strong-army/
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/regional/2014-10/10/content_18717614.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingqu
https://www.usni.org/press/books/great-wall-sea-second-edition
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1153087.shtml
Todd RutleyThe Belt & Road Initiative was launched in 2013 by PRC President Xi Jinping. The BRI focuses on building infrastructure to promote trade and economic development. While the BRI is often described as a bold new initiative, it can also be seen as a bold but old initiative inspired by the Tributary System of political and economic relations that was fully developed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the last Han Chinese dynasty before the Manchu invasion and Qing Dynasty. That is the opinion I will seek to support in this note.
Why write this note? I am trying to understand ideas from Chinese history that may explain current thinking and also the likely future actions of the PRC.
Treaty vs. Tribute: the Western vs. Eastern Approach
In international trade relations, the modern West typically relies on legal trade treaties prepared much like domestic contracts. These treaties define the rights and responsibilities of the legally equal parties as well as penalties and remedies that may be utilized in the event of disagreements.
In addition to diplomacy, the West has also utilized military violence to promote trade. For example, Western powers typically used “gunboat diplomacy” to force the opening of foreign markets in East Asia. This is the approach that all the Western powers used against the Qing Dynasty during the 1839-1949 Century of Humiliation. Using force and threats, the West imposed 21 unequal treaties on China between 1842 and 1933. The same gunboat diplomacy approach was applied in Japan in 1853-54 by US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry.
In contrast to the West, East Asia has utilized the peaceful and diplomatic “Tribute System” as an organizing principle for managing international diplomatic and economic relationships. The Tribute System, as it was named by John King Fairbanks, can be interpreted as an international projection of the Confucian state philosophy in that it was hierarchical and unequal, promoting harmony rather than conflict.
10 Similarities Between the Tribute System and BRI
Conclusions
There appear to be many similarities between the historical Tribute System and the current BRI. If these are substantive and meaningful similarities, the BRI may herald the return to a Sino-centric world order under China’s leadership.
Would a Sino-centric world order threaten the West and increase international warfare? This fear has been raised by many American Neocons, hegemonists, and various China bashers. As Harvard's Graham Allison asks, are “China and America Destined for War”, propelled deterministically by the Thucydides's Trap?
The historical experience indicates that the Tribute System in East Asia was relatively peaceful, and that the system promoted stability rather than the contrary. As USC Professor David Kang noted in East Asia Before The West, the period from 1368 to 1841 saw only 2 wars between the 4 major Asian states of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. This conclusion suggests that the BRI holds the promise of stabilizing international relations through the promotion of trade and economic development.
References
East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute. David C. Kang. 2010.
Has the West Lost It? A Provocation. Kishore Mahbubani, 2018
The Structure and Transformation of the Ming Tribute Trade System. Gakusho Nakajima
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-4053-5_7
Explaining the Tribute System: Power, Confucianism, and War in Medieval East Asia
Yuan-kang Wang. Journal of East Asian Studies 13 (2013), 207–232
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/02/c_138111345.htm
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-04/26/content_29086142.htm
http://www.beltandroadforum.org/english/
https://www.cfr.org/blog/countries-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-whos-and-whos-out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tributary_states_of_China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unequal_treaty
https://isdp.eu/publication/belt-road-initiative/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/tribute-system
https://www.belfercenter.org/thucydides-trap/overview-thucydides-trap
Footnotes
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the English translation used since 2015 for the “One Belt One Road” initiative or OBOR announced by Xi Jinping in 2013 (“Yi Dai Yi Lu”, 一带一路). The “Belt” refers to land connections while the “Road” refers to maritime connections.
Wikipedia notes that: “The term "tribute system", strictly speaking, is a Western invention. There was no equivalent term in the Chinese lexicon to describe what would be considered the "tribute system" today, nor was it envisioned as an institution or system. John King Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yu created the "tribute system" theory in a series of articles in the early 1940s to describe "a set of ideas and practices developed and perpetuated by the rulers of China over many centuries." The Fairbank model presents the tribute system as an extension of the hierarchic and nonegalitarian Confucian social order. The more Confucian the actors, the more likely they were to participate in the tributary system.”
Martha PaoThe article “All Roads Lead to China” (2019) describes how China is extending its scientific reach by partnering with other countries and supporting the development of science initiatives as well as young scientists. There is nothing new in this idea: time and again a country that was at the forefront of scientific development also has, over time, developed an outsize effect on the development of political and economic policies of the world. It stands to reason that China’s future goals are well aligned with developing scientific roots in as many countries at they can.
There is some concern about the unequal nature of the partnerships, especially since many of the countries that China is investing in are less wealthy. There is also concern about the environmental impact these fast developing projects will have- although China has shown signs of being increasingly more mindful about environmental impact and its consequences.
As China trains new scientists it will be interesting to see to what extent these new scientists develop deep ties and affinity for the Chinese way of thinking. Opening doors to higher education is a good way to develop future thought leaders and to create and share in common goals.
The question now is, how do we feel about the direction this is leading us to, and would we be happy in a world where China is the scientific superpower, as opposed to the USA?
Sarah EvertThe deep connections of Islam and merchants the Hui ethnicity and how they are very culturally different than the other Muslim ethnicities in China is important to differentiate from the plight of the Ughyur people. In class we have talked about the plight of peripheral populations as well as how empire building and now new infrastructure have impacted these groups in the past and presently. Migrations of people and how geopolitical borders are formed and the different types of cooperation or conflict are repeated themes teaching world history. The ways that 9/11 and the War on Terror have impacted China, and Chinese Muslims is important to understand. The fear of growing militant, radical groups is a concern that the Chinese government is actively, forcefully, and unfairly targeting Ughyers specifically. It will be interesting to see if the Belt and Road Initiative can help bring stability and peace to Afghanistan and in turn the rest of the region in Central Asia that has suffered so much over the past 40 years.
Todd RutleyDraft 1: April 8, 2021.
The Soft Side of the Belt and Road Initiative: How China’s Soft Power Political Infrastructure Reinforces the Hard Side of the BRI
Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a 2014 speech titled “Connectivity Spearheads Development and Partnership Enables Cooperation” (APEC 11/2014). In this speech he set out the broad scope of the BRI. Xi Jinping said:
“The connectivity we talk about today is not merely about building roads and bridges or making linear connection of different places on surface. More importantly, it should be a three-way combination of infrastructure, institutions and people-to-people exchanges and a five-way progress in policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade link, capital flow, and understanding among peoples. It is a wide-ranging, multi-dimensional, vibrant and open connectivity network that pools talent and resources from all stakeholders.”
This note is an exploration of these ideas. In particular, it attempts to define key components of the BRI strategy that go beyond physical infrastructure to include two other forms of infrastructure connectivity – soft infrastructure and political infrastructure.
Introduction
The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013 by PRC President Xi Jinping. The BRI is best known for building physical or “hard infrastructure” like railways and ports that promote the trade of manufactured goods.
The BRI’s hard infrastructure is what gets most attention and is certainly the most photographed, but equally or more important are the “soft infrastructure” and “political infrastructure” initiatives that build links between people and between countries. Those are the ideas that this note will explore.... (continues in attached PDF)
Taylor BubLampton's book summary explains how China has always seen road building as the quickest and most efficient way to build wealth. It is clear from China's recent building of a high speed rail system, where according to Lampton "the railroad time drop[ped] from about four hours to a bit over one hour" in only a few years. The fact that China has easy access to materials like cement and steel to build these railways makes it possible for them to create these structures very quickly. I wonder if their access to cheap labor plays a part in their ability to construct these railways so quickly?
Johnny WalkerTodd,
I really appreciate these resources, especially the "Historical Atlas" on the Reconnecting Asia site. Thank you! The summaries and maps that cover the states, trade routes, religious diffusion, hegemony during the Age of Imperialism through the Cold War and then reflect GDP and internet connectivity at present is an entire textbook worth of materials consolidated into one accessible web-page. I've been brainstorming how to cover our final unit on Globalization while simultaneously reviewing and preparing for the exam (1200-present), and this page is the perfect encapsulation of the course content for East Asia. In preparing for the AP Exam in a little over a month, I think I could send students to this page and give them various questions and prompts from past AP Exams concerning continuity and change or periodization with which to write short-answer questions and long-essay questions.
I also really appreciated the jpegs you attached, especially the ones on high speed rail comparisons between nations, the map of China's rail system, and the planned map of the Belt and Road initiative. I'm planning on using this map of the Belt and Road Initiative to compare with the Indian Ocean Trade Networks of the 1300-1500s as well as the Silk Road networks. In addition, I'm also going to have students compare national railway construction from the late 1800s or early 1900s and compare them with these resources about modern rail and analyze the motivations, purpose, transformational effects, changing technology, social and cultural effects, economic effects, and environmental concerns of railbuilding from both eras. I really enjoy when sources can distill a large amount of information and also provide a jumping off point for complex analysis, and these certainly do that. Thank you!
Johnny WalkerMelina,
Thank you for sharing the CML Framework resource! I've been looking to strengthen my practice when it comes to evaluating sources, and these 6 questions are intriguing and delve more deeply into evaluating and analyzing a source than the AP History rubric that I currently use for all of my students. While I do enjoy the AP History rubric that evaluates a source's reliability based upon the POV of the speaker, historical context surrounding the document, intended audience, and purpose, I enjoy the way that these questions support yet expand upon these categories. For example, in question #1, I'm intrigued by the idea that other than focus upon the writer/speaker/artist of a specific text, students are asked to think about other "possible people who made choices that helped create the text". That's a fascinating thing to ponder which will force students to consider economic considerations, editorial bias, educational or institutional influences upon a writer that the question, "What is the POV (nationality, profession, gender, race, ethnicity, etc) and how does that affect the reliability of a source?" may not inspire as much of a complex discussion. While ultimately, the student should arrive at a similar evaluative statement, I think that the phrasing of the Critical Media Literacy Framework is more accessible and instructive to our students. I think I'll use it to scaffold the AP rubric. Thanks for sharing!
Johnny WalkerTodd, your posts are impressive and inspiring. This particular one is especially provocative in our current moment as Biden's "Build Back Better" initiative gains steam in Congress. I just watched an interview with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and listened to new EPA Administrator Michael Regan speak yesterday, as they both laid out arguments for massive government spending in infrastructure development. Not only were they pushing for the building and maintenance of roads, highways, bridges, airports, water pipes, reinforcing dams and levees, etc. but were also advocating for major investment in social programs. They have been criticized by many on the right for supporting investments in pre-K education and elder care within this larger infrastructure bill as being examples of railroading (no pun intended) their pet liberal agenda through Congress. However, based upon the different forms of infrastructure enumerated here, these are examples of the “soft” or “political” infrastructure that also serves to build, reinforce, and strengthen economic development are just as vital as the “hard” traditional notions of infrastructure development.
There seems to be a need to educate and update the American people (and politicians) about the value and definition of "infrastructure". I previously had a limited notion of "infrastructure" as being roads, rail, electricity, sewage, water, and internet, but had not considered that the definition can be expanded beyond literal transportation capabilities to anything that as you wrote "builds links between people and between countries."
When considering "infrastructure" as "building links" between people, it becomes clear that education, child care, elderly care, voting access, criminal justice reform, and other social programs become instrumental pieces of such infrastructure legislation. As the government allows more people to clear hurdles to access their economic potential and also create efficient and effective connections between citizens and government services, these "soft" infrastructure supports braid with the “hard” infrastructure as more people are able to access and contribute meaningfully to the greater economy.
While China’s Belt and Road Initiative can be viewed as intimidating or threatening to American business, I’m actually inspired by it. As you mentioned in a previous post, perhaps this investment through central Asia may spur a pacification of extremism in places like Afghanistan which will become a more connected partner in a harmonious web of economic development. However, I’m also cautious to see how this greater connectivity may serve to undermine the lives of the poor and cause even greater social dislocation even within dominant nations. When I consider agreements such as NAFTA that allowed for a greater flow of commerce, the US corporate interests seemed to benefit while the lives of Mexican farmers, US autoworkers, or other consumers in the global marketplace were pushed aside.
Likewise, in thinking about the United States as building our own infrastructure project, why should we be satisfied at limiting it to within our own borders? In formulating a vision similar to the Belt and Road or the European Union, we have barely realized the potential to connect North America. Given the extreme conditions within Central America that causes hundreds of thousands of migrants to search for refuge in the US, the stability and economic promise of the nations that border us should also be deserving of our investment. Like the Marshall Plan, a rebuilding, collaboration and strengthening of nations like El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala or Honduras will have major positive repercussions within our own nation and promote a more peaceful and stable future. However, these arguments can be hard political pills to swallow during times of economic uncertainty and extreme nationalism.
Taylor BubI found Lampton's article titled "All Road's Lead to China" to be extremely interesting. The article, dated May of 2019, explains how China is using the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) to, according to President Xi, transform global trade through science. The goal of the BRI is to establish 21st century 'silk road's' around the world, as well as restore China as one of the world's leading scientific powers. Lampton seemed to be critical of China's initiative and explained how many criticisms have arisen about China creating agreements and treaties with many countries that have been struggling economically. He explains that China sees itself as an appropriate partner for these poorer countries because China has been considered a poorer country in the past. However, thoes who criticize China's agreements with these countries believe that China is putting these struggling countries into major debt to China, all while China takes ahold of their natural resources.
I found it particularly interesting how Lampton discusses the potential environmental impacts of the different road and railways that China is constructing. In the article he discusses how quickly many of the construction companies in China need to complete their projects and that they often do not have the time to stop their work and complete environmental impact assessments. It was interesting to see that China's recommendation for other countries participating in the BRI to avoid building near earthquake epicenters and heritage sites. I think this would be something interesting to have student's explore in a classroom setting by investigating the potential impact on some of the fragile ecosystems found throughout Pakistan and some of the other countries mentioned in the article that could be effected by this construction.
Camie FleetAs reading Dr. Lampton book summary I thought the comparision to the silk road and china's new high speed infratstructure was an interesting comparison. This is a very interesting concept. It is amazing that they were able to decrese commute times by 3 hours. This is a huge accomplisment and would open many opprotunties for the Chinese people; Work commute, work-life- commute balance, housing affordablity, access to goods and resources to more rural areas.
As far as using this idea in the classroom I would have students consider this comparision and how these ideas play out not only in china but around the world and throughout history.
I think it would be very interesting to strech student learning on this topic by having them consider the following quesrtions:
1. How do historical ideas and concepts reoccur and influence out society.
2. What are the benefits and pitfalls of new infrastruture and technology.
a. Does the speed in which the tech is implimented into society matter?
b. Who should have a say in the placement and creation of the new infrastrutcure.