Late last fall, a high-level regional meeting for the nations of the Pacific Ocean was held in the tiny Cook Islands. As the summit’s attendees drove through the capital city of Avarua, they saw major new construction projects — a police station, a sports arena, the Department of Justice — that had already fallen into dilapidation. It must have been embarrassing for the Chinese delegation, because all the infrastructure was constructed by Beijing.

Avarua demonstrates the dual-edged sword of China’s massive Belt and Road geo-economic program. BRI is a smart strategy. Among other goals, China seeks to export goods and services from its factories and cities both by land, along the old Marco Polo trade routes through Central Asia, and also by sea along the old maritime routes through the Strait of Malacca into the Indian Ocean, and thence to Africa and Europe. But it also is tying developing countries into economic dependency on Beijing that some, from Sri Lanka to Italy, are already regretting.

QOSHE - Tiny Pacific Islands Are a Major Front in the US-China Cold War - James Stavridis
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Tiny Pacific Islands Are a Major Front in the US-China Cold War

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25.01.2024

Late last fall, a high-level regional meeting for the nations of the Pacific Ocean was held in the tiny Cook Islands. As the summit’s attendees drove through the capital city of Avarua, they saw major new construction projects — a police........

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