The Belt & Road Initiative is Not a Plan for World Domination Through Global Trading Continued
Joseph Veramu is a policy and planning consultant who can be contacted on joseph.veramu@ outlook.com
RECOMMENDATIONS: THE WAY FORWARD TO STRENGTHEN BRI IN THE PACIFIC 1 The BRI in the Pacific through training of national and regional skills needs:
We propose that the training of Pacific students in Chinese Universities should be supported not only through Chinese Government scholarships but also through financial support from Pacific island nations.
The technical skills and competencies learnt in China by Pacific graduates is helping to efficiently implement development projects that are part of national and regional development plans. A number of Chinese Universities have Pacific Islands Study Sections.
China has trained 149 Fijians over the 2018-2019 period in women’s empowerment, youth development, climate change, agriculture, education, media, health, fishery, human resources management and information technology. (Talei, 2019).
Statistics indicate that students from 204 countries studied in 935 Chinese higher education institutions located in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in 2017. They included 75,800 graduate and doctoral students, an increase of 18.62 per cent compared to 2016. The number of students from ‘Belt and Road’ countries, which accounted for 64.85 per cent of all international students in China, was 317,200, an increase of 11.58 per cent. 341,900 international students (69.88 per cent of the total) studied in 11 eastern municipalities and provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. (moe.cn, 2018)
2. There is huge potential for Pacific states to work with China’s major trading partners like Australia and New Zealand to increase regional economic growth through the provision of the BRI.
We propose that there are huge opportunities for Australia and New Zealand to work with the Pacific Island nations under the framework of the BRI.
Guo Chunmei from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations notes that, “Australia and New Zealand are important partners to China, and thus we cannot develop the China-Pacific relations at the expense of ChinaAustralia relations or China-New Zealand relations. China needs to explore a trilateral cooperation model with Australia or New Zealand in conjunction with co-operation with Pacific island countries.” Guo Chunmei noted that the first trilateral cooperation attempt between China, New Zealand and the Cook Islands to build a water project had shown that the Pacific region can be ruled by partnership and consensus rather than competition and contestation.
A trilateral partnership between the three countries was announced in 2012, with China providing concessional loans and New Zealand offering a grant to upgrade the island’s water network. (Yu Jing, 2019)
We recommend that more such trilateral partnerships between individual Pacific nations with China, Australia and New Zealand is not only beneficial for the Pacific islands; it will increase trade and reduce tensions between New Zealand, Australia and China. We believe that increased trade by the 3 nations will also have immense rub-off benefits for the Pacific island nations.
3. There is huge potential for Pacific countries like, for example, Fiji. Samoa and Kiribati to leverage BRI in boosting national economic growth
We propose that under the BRI framework nations like Fiji, Samoa and Kiribati, for example, can strengthen their tourism and civil aviation policies through shared airline flight seats arrangements. There is huge potential for niche tourists who visit Fiji (either as direct or transiting tourists from New Zealand and Australia) to connect to Apia and Christmas Island for marine based leisure activities and then fly on to Hawaii.
While national airlines seat sharing arrangements are based on commercial considerations, there are provisions to subsidise such arrangements under bilateral agreements of individual Pacific nations with New Zealand and/or Australia. (Under BRI, airport infrastructure improvements and aeroplanes acquisitions are expedited.)
While we have mentioned these three nations as an example, there is huge potential for other Pacific nations to trade with each other on bilateral or regional arrangements under the BRI framework. Tourism continues to be a huge area of Pacific economic growth.
“The China Pacific Tourism Development Initiative 2020-2024 serves as a platform to introduce the Pacific to China and vice versa as well as build people-to-people connectivity between China and the Pacific islands. Tourism’s contribution to Pacific economies in 2018 was US$3.8 billion (FJ$7.82bn). “Tourism’s contribution to the Pacific GDP was 11 per cent and 131,000 people were directly employed. There were 2.1 million airline visitors and 1 million cruise arrivals. China now is the fastest growing tourism source market for the Pacific region. The Chinese
market accounts for 5.8 per cent of total air visitor arrivals to the Pacific region in 2018. (TRD, 2019) Through the CPTC and BRI more can be accomplished in achieving regional tourism economic growth.”
4. Cultural diplomacy is a key aspect of the BRI in the Pacific Islands
We propose that Confucius Institutes be set up in most Pacific island nations so islanders can learn Mandarin and gain insights into development values with Chinese characters.
There should be more exchange visits on Chinese arts, culture, literature, song, dance and festivals. More Chinese documentaries and feature films should be shown on local TV stations and cinemas. Rong Yueming, director of the Literature Institute of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) notes that “Culture plays an important role in the BRI as cultural exchange is the foundation through which multinational cooperation can be strengthened in all aspects. Cultural exchange is a two-way process for China. “The first is to spread the true image of the Chinese culture for a better understanding of China, and the second is to gather different cultures under the umbrella of a common initiative that boosts cultural interaction and mutual understanding under BRI.
“Co-operation among BRI participants is based on the principle of respect of all cultural differences in implementation of the concepts of shared destiny for humanity and cultural exchange.” (LPRD, 2019; Ahmed, 2018).
China has promoted its expressive arts (songs, dance, films, art) in the Pacific to the delight of the people. This cultural diplomacy is providing deep insights into the vibrancy of Chinese culture and the importance of sustainable development with Chinese characters under BRI.
Under the BRI, the Confucius Institutes (CIs) are teaching the Chinese language to Pacific islanders. This is a very positive development as fluency in Mandarin will empower Pacific islanders to adapt development initiatives with Chinese characters.
5 Concession loans
i. We propose that Pacific island nations develop pragmatic policy frameworks prior to acquiring Chinese concessionary loans and aid grants so that the funding creates maximum impact for national economies. ii. We propose that Pacific nations under BRI set up and / or strengthen their anti-corruption agencies.
iii. We also propose that Pacific nations improve the “Ease of Doing Business” nationally and remove red tape if they are going to facilitate proactive economic activities.
We believe that having strong fiscal policies and anti-corruption laws will help immensely in the servicing of loan repayments.
The Lowy Institute notes that China has begun exercising greater caution over the potential debt sustainability implications of the BRI. It has supported an IMF training centre to help improve the debt management capacity of countries involved in the BRI. China’s Ministry of Finance has agreed with major multilateral financing institutions to establish a new co-operation platform.
While China has begun to provide more grant financing to the Pacific, it is starting from a low base. As a major financier in the Pacific islands region, China is looking at national abilities to service loans and supporting projects that can generate income directly through user payer taxes or community income generation through informal and non–formal economic sector activities. (Rajah, Dayant & Pryke, 2019)
It is impractical, for example, for the Solomon Islands to develop airport infrastructure if roads, electrification, internet connectivity and hotel rooms have not been expedited to take cognizance in an increase in overseas visitors.
It is also counterproductive if increased overseas investment is stymied by petty corruption of Government workers or unnecessary red tape. Proactive Government policies should be set up under the BRI framework.
6 Regular regional meetings to share best practices on BRI
We propose that Pacific Island nations that are part of the BRI meet once every two years to share best practices on social and economic development. This regional get together will also be an opportunity to showcase national consumer products, and expressive arts. The two-yearly meetings can be facilitated by the South Pacific Island Countries: Institute of Asian Studies (SPICIAS).
We propose the facilitation of more research projects on BRI and the setting up of dedicated Centres of BRI frameworks in Pacific higher education institutions.
7. We propose that smart devices need to be in the hands of all Pacific islanders as these devices are the window to the rest of the world, and will bridge the digital divide, enabling access to information as well as supporting business ecommerce.
E-networks enable islands to connect and communicate to the global digital economy. through LTE, to provide on-islands connectivity, and submarine cable, to support global connectivity.
One of the co-authors, Dr Joseph Veramu visited the Huawei Centre in Shenzen in August 2018 as part of a delegation of Pacific Media from Fiji and PNG. Huawei is in the PNG and Pacific market and is playing a positive role in increasing Pacific connectivity. (This visit was reported by Kenneth, 29/8/2018) As 5G, cloud, and AI pick up pace ‘Intelligent IP networks’ are a key factor in dealing with issues such as insufficient bandwidth, poor service experience, and low efficiency of network O&M and troubleshooting. Intelligent IP networks can be automatically deployed, achieving rapid adjustment of services.
This is because they can perform automatic, AI-powered fault rectification, implementing proactive O&M and ensuring high network availability. “2020 is the first year for commercial use of intelligent IP networks. The entire industry has witnessed an historic shift of IP networks from Internet IP in the World Wide Web era to video-driven All IP, and is now on the way to intelligent IP oriented at the 5G and cloud era. (Hu, 2020)
CONCLUSION Visionary global leader
When President Xi Jinping visited Fiji in 2014 to strengthen economic and strategic ties with Fiji and Pacific Island nations, there was an affirming perception that a visionary global leader had come. Mr Xi had said: “The friendly exchanges between the people of China and Pacific Island countries date back to a long time ago. We feel a natural kinship with each other.”
Then Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, explained it so succinctly when he commented that: “China believes that all countries are equal members of the international community irrespective of their size, wealth and strength.”
Within the space of five years, Mr Xi has displayed his global leadership credentials. He has facilitated five major global summits in China and he has tirelessly undertaken 28 overseas trips that has seen him engage with 56 countries on five continents. Indeed, since the past 2000 years, no other Chinese leader has done more than President Xi to foster global peace and sustainable development.
Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Mr Xi envisions affirming international relations where all nations become a holistic global community of common destiny. This calls for a bold vision of humankind working together in harmony and prosperity while respecting the need for an environmentally healthy planet.
One issue that has impressed about China in the Pacific is that China has gone out of its way to maintain the delicate balance of relationships that exist between Pacific states and the larger metropolitan neighbours. There has been a major shift in the tectonic plate in the sense that Pacific nations have developed stronger links with China.
China’s success has been because of its resistance to become more like the West. China has for example, brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty by following its home-grown development model rather than copying western liberal approaches.
It is to President Xi’s credit that through the Belt and Road Initiative, leaders of nations irrespective of their size, wealth and strength are treated as equal partners with China. He is moulding a new generation of Pacific leaders who are visionary in their thinking and not only work for national goals but for greater global peace, environmental sustainability and prosperity.