The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) ended Saturday in Beijing. Leaders who attended the forum signed a joint communiqué and reached several achievements. The forum further expanded the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and boosted people’s confidence in this cooperation mechanism.
The openness of the BRF has impressed the world. As the one who proposed the BRI, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward high-quality Belt and Road construction, emphasized the cooperation will be open, green and clean, and will strengthen international rules synergy. These are inherent requirements of the BRI construction and also responses to some Western countries’ concerns.
People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said the BRI’s investment and financing decisions must fully consider a country’s overall debt capacity, and improve the coordination between investment and financing to ensure debt is sustainable.
The BRI is a rapidly developing new initiative. It has attracted discussions in the world. But the US and some Western countries made biased comments, some with ill intentions. China proposed the initiative, but stayed calm and focused on improving the BRI’s mechanism together with cooperative countries. China’s broad mind matches the great cause of the BRI.
The BRI is an expanding friendly circle with no adversaries. Two former US cabinet members released a report called “The Higher Road: Forging a US Strategy for the Global Infrastructure Challenge.” It is a good thing if the US really supports global infrastructure.
But the purpose of the report seems to be to build US leadership in infrastructure and exclude China’s influence. The two former cabinet members advocated “the higher road,” but it seems like a zero-sum geopolitical road.
China’s foreign investment has never ignored the principle of being green and clean. It also took recipient countries’ debt capacity into consideration. But since some countries expressed concerns, the BRF placed the corresponding improvements in a prominent position. In contrast with the open-mindedness of China, the US’ unilateralism has increased.
The America First policy has disturbed most global multilateral cooperation platforms. Thus, the BRI may be more attractive because countries only have the goodwill of reciprocity within the framework. All countries want to develop, and the BRI can help in mutual development.
BRI cooperation will be more prosperous with higher quality in the future. It is open to regions and countries as well as good ideas and rules. Proposed by China, the BRI belongs to humankind. These are not empty words.
Source: GT
