Last week Italy officially became the worst-hit country from the effects of the coronavirus, even worse than China. The entire European Continent is reeling from the pandemic outbreak, and America is catching up fast. On the flip side of things, China seems to comfortably be past its peak. If the numbers are to be relied on, a number of days have passed with no new infections across the country. Epidemiologists warn of a second wave to come, but so far, so good.
Beijing has as much as declared victory over the virus when Xi Jinping himself recently travelled to the epicentre Wuhan. One doesn’t have to be an expert in the Chinese leadership. He would not have done that if Beijing were not 100% confident that they can manage the situation from here on. As such, China is in this incredible position to exert global leadership at times when it is desperately needed and when the prevailing notion of America First prevents Washington from grabbing it.
As has been reported, Xi spoke to Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte last week and offered support to his battered people by sending medical teams, equipment and technological support. It seems to have been the first time that the term “health silk road” was coined by Xi. It is also worth noting here that Italy is the only G7 country that has signed a memorandum of understanding and has officially endorsed China’s Belt and Road initiative.
Similar action has been taken in other European countries, such as Serbia, and in Africa. One of the key nations being part of Belt and Road, Ethiopia, has been on the receiving end of China’s medical aid, as have been Iran and Iraq in the Middle East, Pakistan in South Asia and various others in South-East Asia. Fairly quickly a pattern has developed that China’s outreach and support are being focussed along the Belt and Road geographies.
I attempted to line out in a
post last November why the Belt and Road is so important for China. I mentioned the old ballade of China wanting to trade with the world, and countries willing to trade with each other being less likely to go to war… there sure is something to it, as I said then, and its validity will be predominant in the case of China’s relationship with South-East Asia but also with nations across the Eurasian plate and into Africa.
I also pointed out that Belt and Road was an existential project for China. The country’s population may not grow any longer and be surpassed by India’s in due course, but China needs space to develop and modernise. To be contained by all these strange strategies instigated by Washington in an alliance with Japan, Australia, and others is not conducive to what China wants to do with its country and society.
Then, China was keen on expanding its ecosystem. Due to its own emerging process, it has a deep understanding of how economic development in South-East Asia, Central Asia, and Africa works. It also has this massive excess capacity with regard to infrastructure and housing construction, the capacity that will only grow as China steps up the modernisation ladder. It will increasingly be idle and in need to be employed, and nowhere better is this done than on the Eurasian plate and in Africa.
A crucial role is also going to be played by Huawei and its predominance in 5G technology. Huawei’s chairman has a vision in its own right and wants his company to dominate the global broadband market and help the Chinese ecosystem to thrive beyond the country’s borders. It is poised to constitute the virtual Belt and Road, which will naturally have to be part of the grander project, namely the area across Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa being connected by high-speed internet.
And now, there is yet another aspect to Belt and Road, namely health. To be sure, the Cassandras have claimed that the corona crisis is posing a challenge to the project, but those voices are being way too short-sighted, as usual. Health can be a natural extension to Belt and Road and deepen Beijing’s partnerships even further. Check out what’s being done in Italy, for example… beyond the medical teams and equipment, Chinese tech is and will be playing a large role.
It no longer matters at this stage whether Washington wants to disrupt Chinese technology companies’ business in Europe. Alibaba’s cloud and artificial intelligence services, Huawei’s networking gear for hospitals, and other formidable health care applications have performed a miracle in Wuhan and are fast becoming a bedrock for Italy’s path in fighting the crisis. Invaluable insights and expertise are to be shared with whoever wants to be a partner.
China’s case is probably as strong as it has never been, at least along Belt and Road. Of course, there is always the element of propaganda involved, and Western politicians haven’t tired to point this out, but Beijing’s image and reputation will not suffer but thrive among those essential assistance is being provided to, especially the ones with now overwhelmed and weakened public health systems.
