China’s technology ambitions appeared imperiled by Covid-19, but the pandemic is already providing new opportunities for China’s rise as a technology power and global provider of digital infrastructure.
Beijing’s willingness to start new international institutions underscores its global ambitions and adds weight to its rhetoric about creating an alternative order, but it would be a mistake to exaggerate their current scale and effectiveness.
While the COVID-19 epidemic has spread along the routes of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), those same corridors are being used to provide medical support as Beijing attempts to position itself as a global leader in healthcare—a move which Chinese President Xi Jinping calls the “Health Silk Road.”
European firms seeking to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative face rising hurdles while Chinese state-owned companies are successfully pricing out their European competitors… A push for greater transparency and reciprocity along the BRI could help level the playing field.
China’s growing military ambition in South Asia is matched in financial terms by its Belt and Road Initiative, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. What remains unclear is how the U.S. should navigate the new dynamic. This report addresses the question of how the India-Pakistan rivalry will play into the emerging great power competition.