4 COUNTRIES IN TALKS ON ALTERNATIVE TO CHINA’S BRI

SYDNEY: Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported yesterday, citing a senior US official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan involving the four regional partners was still “nascent” and “won’t be ripe enough to be announced” during Australian Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to the US later this week.

The official said, however, the project was on the agenda for Turnbull’s talks with US President Donald Trump during that trip and was being seriously discussed.

The source added that the preferred terminology was to call the plan an “alternative” to China’s BRI, rather than a “rival”.

“No one is saying China should not build infrastructure,” the official was quoted as saying.

“China might build a port which, on its own is not economically viable. We could make it economically viable by building a road or rail line linking that port.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, asked at a news conference about the report of four-way cooperation, said Japan, the US, Australia, and Japan, Australia and India regularly exchanged views on issues of common interest.

“It is not the case that this is to counter China’s Belt and Road,” he said.

Japan, meanwhile, planned to use its official development assistance (ODA) to promote a broader “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”, including “highquality infrastructure“, according to a summary draft of its 2017 white paper on ODA.

The Indo-Pacific strategy has been endorsed by Washington and is also seen as a counter to the BRI.

First mentioned during a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping to university students in Kazakhstan in 2013, the BRI is a vehicle for the Asian country to take a greater role on the international stage by funding and building global transport and trade links in more than 60 countries.