Who’s keeping tabs on OBOR mission?
Mark my words. The acronym “OBOR” will become a new global buzz word before long. No, it has nothing to do with a new model of mobile phone. OBOR, which stands for “One Belt One Road,” is a new economic policy being rolled out by the People’s Republic of China. It envisions the development of massive scale infrastructure that will link China with the Middle East and Europe.
It is also known by another, more romantic, name: “Modern-day Silk Road” or “21st Century Silk Road.”
The 21st century Maritime Silk Road will link the maritime routes of eastern ports of China to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean Rim.
Forget camels, caravans on dirt roads. The modern-day Silk Road is a pricey project that will involve many countries — most of them are friends of China. Yesterday, President Xi Jinping, who initiated the plan four years ago, opened a summit on OBOR in Beijing.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, and Mynamar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have turned up to this two-day summit.
So where does Thailand and the rest of Asean fit into this modern-day Silk Road? The region — dubbed the Asean Economic Community (AEC), a new emerging single market — features on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The Prayut Chan-o-cha government is trying to connect its new eastern economic corridor (EEC), the extended version of the Eastern Seaboard Project, with the maritime silkroad.
Thailand has a lot of experience in logistical cooperation with China, indeed long before Mr Xi rose to power in 2012.
The country got the first taste of China’s ambitions in 2002 when it began blasting reefs in the Mekong near Chiang Rai province to jump start a cargo route from Southwest China to Luang Prabang in Laos.
The blasting was approved by then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra amid opposition from locals who were fearful of any adverse ecological impact.
Of course, a fleet of cargo would spur trade activity, which would benefit Thai consumers who enjoy cheap fruit and agricultural produce, such as garlic, from China. But the removal of reefs and rocks in the Mekong River, which serve as fish spawning grounds, could have extreme environmental consequences.
Local villagers have raised concerns over strong tides being caused by cargo ships and that the river banks have started to erode.
But the complaints by small people are barely heard. The noise of the engines of cargo ships brimming with goods and the smell of money is drowning these voices out.
As political leaders discuss the 21st Century Silk Road today in Beijing, China’s logistical expansion in the Mekong is moving ahead unimpeded. Early this year, the governments of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand allowed a Chinese company to survey navigation routes. According to a memorandum of understanding in 2001, this will be followed by environmental studies in the Mekong River, as Beijing looks to widen the China-Luang Prabang navigation route in order to accommodate larger cargo ships.
You may wonder how and why the governments of sovereign countries are allowing a Chinese company to conduct environmental impact studies on its own. Is there any independent and neutral body which can ensure us that the environmental studies are objective? No matter how hard authorities and the company carrying out the survey have tried to beg for our trust, with promises that the studies will be impartial, doubts linger.
We have every right to be concerned about allowing a Chinese company to carry out its environmental studies on behalf of the country.
Make no mistake, I do not hold any prejudice towards China. On the contrary, I admire this great nation’s success and have a passion for its history and culture. But at the same time, I believe that any governments of sovereign nations, especially Thailand, ought to behave like an independent body when dealing with China or any other country for that matter. But showing sovereignty and power does not mean acquiring new submarines.
So you might wonder what is my impression of the modern-day Silk Road? Of course, I see a geopolitic shift towards Beijing.
I see the modern-day Silk Road as a high speed and modern method of transportation. But I also see it as a one-way street that prohibits any room for making u-turns.