to the maritime Silk Road is complete without mention of the voyages of Zheng He. The eunuch admiral, a Muslim at the Ming court, led seven voyages in the early 15th century in a fleet of vast sailing barges known as “treasure ships”. The official narrative is that he went abroad to spread peace, carrying treasures for the potentates he would meet from South-East Asia to east Africa. Back came fabulous curiosities, including a giraffe, which he fashioned as tribute to the emperor.
The road starts by coursing innocently through the South China Sea. Already the paradox is glaring. This is a seat of heightened geopolitical contest on account of disputes among littoral states over maritime claims in the sea—none more hyberbolic than China’s. It is aggressively asserting its claims , through a large naval, coastguard and fishing-fleet presence, as well as huge terraforming around reefs and rocks to create runways, quays and military bases..
Another plan is for major ports to serve as regional hubs at which the biggest container ships can dock; their cargoes are then unloaded and despatched on smaller vessels serving other regional ports. Colombo is one example. Sri Lanka sits at the crossroads of major shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, and Colombo is one of the world’s busiest—and most profitable—container ports.’s involvement in Piraeus, Athens’s ancient harbour.
There was, in other words, no well-laid plan. Yet it remains the case that Hambantota sits strategically just a few miles north of one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. Moreover, once bunkering facilities are installed, and ships start to call in to refuel, Hambantota may no longer be the white elephant it is today. Thus China will have one more strategic stepping stone in the Indian Ocean in years to come.
There are accusations elsewhere of projects that aggravate domestic problems in the countries in which they are undertaken. In January President Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to visit Myanmar in 20 years, a trip over which much was at stake. With a deap-sea port being built at Kyaukpyu in Rakhine state, a corridor is to connect landlocked parts of south-west China to the Indian Ocean.
yes....and this has to stop.... the world has been taken for a ride for too long.
win–win is the best answer
The Chinese are focused on peaceful trade and global prosperity the American empire in its painful inevitable decline is far more dangerous.
We have seen the 'Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere' before.
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