Belt and Road Initiative: Is China's trillion-dollar gamble to transform the world working?

China is throwing a huge party to celebrate one of its biggest experiments in engaging with the world: its Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese media is awash with coverage of the BRI's achievements, including a six-part documentary on state TV. A signature policy of President Xi Jinping, the BRI is aimed at stitching China closer to the world through investments and infrastructure projects. "Belt" refers to overland routes connecting China to Europe through Central Asia, as well as to South Asia and South East Asia; while "Road" denotes a maritime network linking China to major ports through Asia to Africa and Europe. "It's about Chinese state-owned enterprises going abroad... to help facilitate the flow of resources that China needs," said Jacob Gunter, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. In the UN, China has "Corralled other states into temporary coalitions" to oppose measures critical of Beijing, while participation in the BRI has led several EU members to block or water down policies critical of China, pointed out the IISS. The think tank also said the BRI has become one of China's "Main instruments" in its diplomatic isolation of Taiwan. In South East Asia, Cambodia has consistently resisted condemnation of China's actions in the South China Sea, while Laos and Thailand have been criticised for arresting or allowing the abduction of Chinese activists wanted by Beijing. The view from China is that "Now globalisation is in danger. The West, in the name of 'de-risking', is actually 'de-China-risking'," said Wang Yiwei, a professor who studies the BRI at Renmin University of China.