In Xi’s speech at the Belt and Road Forum, he said that “the Belt and Road is not an exclusive club.” Institutionalizing it would help prove the project’s openness as well as allow it to be transformed, molded and polished by the ideas of other countries, both big and small.
This would also help to draw in Western powers, who have so far been reluctant to get significantly involved, perceiving they would have little influence or leverage. On the eve of last month’s forum, Italy became the first G-7 nation to formally embrace the BRI. This, however, was due to the country’s populist turn and keen need for infrastructure investment rather than a changed view of the initiative.
If the BRI were institutionalized, could Japan even become China’s co-pilot? The Asian Development Bank and the AIIB, with Tokyo and Beijing as their respective prime movers, are already working together on projects. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked since last year about joining with China on supporting infrastructure development in other countries, as both governments seek to hedge ties with the U.S.
Indeed, Chinese and Japanese state companies are now working together on setting up a high-speed rail link between three airports near Bangkok. South Korea and India could also be potential converts to a revamped BRI, with both already in the AIIB. French President Emmanuel Macron last year showed interest in the BRI, but with the condition that it become a “shared road” rather than a “one-way” route.
The U.K., which unlike Japan has joined the AIIB, would be another possible recruit to a multilateral BRI, especially after Brexit. In fact, London has already expressed its interest in “helping to realize the potential of the BRI,” without signing an official agreement with Beijing. Chancellor Philip Hammond traveled to the recent forum in the Chinese capital in pursuit of deals, heedless of Washington’s decision to avoid the event.
History has already recorded that the BRI was a Chinese initiative and President Xi its designer. By pooling perspectives and expertise from other stakeholders via an international organization, China can improve the quality of BRI projects and ensure a successful future for the initiative.
Chinese officials have in the past described the BRI as “the most important public good China is offering the world.” If they are committed to make that true, then it is time for Beijing to open up the BRI to the world and let the global community shape its future.
This article has been published by Andreea Brinza in the Nikkei Asian Review.