Economic Origins and Geopolitical Limits of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Many see the Chinese economic miracle as an illustration of an alternative model of development to the neoliberal orthodoxy. It is also assumed that China’s increasing economic and political involvement in the Global South, from its Asian neighbors to countries in faraway developing regions, challenge American domination, particularly after Xi Jinping started the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative. Professor Hung argues that China’s export-oriented developmental miracle is in fact a constitutive part of the global neoliberal order, and is made possible by unique conditions difficult to be replicated in other places. At the same time, China’s overseas economic interests are still relatively small if we discount capital flight in the outgoing flow of investment. Having that said, China’s rise as a capital exporter is still making it follow in the footsteps of preceding capitalist-hegemonic powers to protect its global economic interests by projecting its military power and political influence overseas. Having been a free rider in the US-centered global order for decades, mastering the skill of exercising its political and military muscles on the global stage effectively is going to be a long process for China. Before China finds a viable solution to this question of hegemony, the OBOR project will be less than meet the eyes.

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