Sep 23, 2022·edited Sep 23, 2022Liked by Claire Berlinski, Vivek Y. Kelkar
Building railroads that could connect China to Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe sounds like a fine idea. A reliable land route would probably reduce reliance on sea-borne freight snd overburdened mega-ports, not to mention an implied reliance on the US Navy as the world's ocean-going policeman keeping international waters safe and secure from piracy. On the other hand, and there is usually an "other hand" wagging a cautionary finger at such schemes, rail freight necessarily must cross national boundaries, while ocean freight need not. I assume that securing its supply routes is a major factor driving China's BRI, and not simply fostering dependent relationships with less affluent nations, the fear being, what happens to China if the US were to apply sanctions to it? Should relations between China and its debtors deteriorate, rail freight could be interrupted fairly easily, whereas applying sanctions to ocean freight is complicated and resource-intensive.
Building railroads that could connect China to Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe sounds like a fine idea. A reliable land route would probably reduce reliance on sea-borne freight snd overburdened mega-ports, not to mention an implied reliance on the US Navy as the world's ocean-going policeman keeping international waters safe and secure from piracy. On the other hand, and there is usually an "other hand" wagging a cautionary finger at such schemes, rail freight necessarily must cross national boundaries, while ocean freight need not. I assume that securing its supply routes is a major factor driving China's BRI, and not simply fostering dependent relationships with less affluent nations, the fear being, what happens to China if the US were to apply sanctions to it? Should relations between China and its debtors deteriorate, rail freight could be interrupted fairly easily, whereas applying sanctions to ocean freight is complicated and resource-intensive.