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  • Chinese President Xi Jing Ping has a dream

  • or you could call it a pet project.

  • He wants to revive China's ancient Silk Road.

  • That means spurring trade along the two thousand year old routes via a network of railways,

  • ports, pipelines, and highways.

  • The Silk Road project is supposed to boost development

  • and deepen economic ties across Central Asia.

  • But critics see it as a way for China to spread its influence further west.

  • So here's the situation.

  • The original Silk Road began as a trade route that stretched from Central China as far as Europe.

  • In its heyday, silk, spices and porcelain were transported to the West.

  • Today, Xi wants to use steel and other materials from China's over-producing factories

  • to improve infrastructure along the route.

  • Typical plans include the development of ports in Malaysia and Tanzania

  • or highways in Pakistan and Tajikistan.

  • To help bankroll, Xi's dreamalso known as the "One belt, One road" initiative

  • the Chinese government created the $40 billion Silk Road fund.

  • Xi has said more than 30 countries signed formal agreements with China

  • and 20 more were cooperating on plans such as railways and nuclear power.

  • But partner nations are weighing economic benefits

  • against an increasingly dominant superpower's demands.

  • A deal for a rail project in Thailand fell through because, according to Thailand,

  • there were "strings attached," namely China demanding commercial property rights.

  • Here's the argument:

  • China says the Silk Road initiative is a way to boost industrialization

  • in the developing nations sandwiched between East and West.

  • Economists agree that the initiative has the potential to stimulate Asian

  • and global economic growth.

  • But there are also risks, like funds not going where they're supposed to in a region

  • beset by corruption, and long-shot development turning into white elephants

  • There is also concern about China's increasingly assertive military, particularly in Asia's waters.

Chinese President Xi Jing Ping has a dream

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