The Belt and Road Initiative and Its Unjustified Discontents  

作　　者：Pompeo Della Posta Qian Liu 

机构地区：[1]The Belt and Road School,Beijing Normal University,China

出　　处：《China & World Economy》2024年第6期160-186,共27页中国与世界经济（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the Project of Provincial Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of Guangdong"Risk management of China's overseas investment:a perspective based on complex networks" (No.GD24CYJ02);Ministry of Education in China Project of Humanities and Social Sciences"Investment risk identification and transmission mechanism of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative" (No.23YJCZH134).

摘　　要：We argue that Western media advance two main interpretations of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).The first suggests that the BRI is primarily motivated by China's geopolitical ambitions.The second contends that the initiative creates"debt traps"for developing countries,hiding the true size of the debt while aiming at the seizure of the infrastructure it builds.We challenge both claims by reviewing critically the existing literature on the BRI.We posit that rather than geopolitical,China's primary motivation has been to promote the development of its western provinces,transforming landlocked areas into land linked ones.Moreover,most of the existing literature neglects the fact that the need for infrastructure development across various continents is well documented by respective regional banks.The dominant"debt trap"narrative is also refuted by several scholars,together with the hypothesis of"asset seizure"and other related critiques.The article concludes that,if anything,geopolitical motivations(particularly tensions between the US and China)are at the root of the negative narrative surrounding the BRI,rather than at the origin of the BRI itself.

关 键 词：Belt and Road Initiative debt trap geopolitical INFRASTRUCTURE 

分 类 号：D81[政治法律—国际关系]