Belt & Road Initiative: China ascendant
That China is turbocharging her already extensive (and successful) efforts to corner world trade is not news—and the so-called Belt &Road Initiative is her economic-strategic plan to carry out her global ambitions.
Both the US and the EU badly underestimated Peking’s aims, going back to the late 1980s, and blithely opened their gates to Chinese commercial penetration. To add insult to injury, the American corporate elite, in particular, thirsting for profits by cutting labor costs, decimated the US home manufacturing base by moving their operations en masse to Chinese plants where tens of millions toil in near-slavery conditions. The Chinese communists were quite happy to oblige as part of their broader strategy of penetrating the West via “peaceful and mutually profitable” methods to build their intelligence and economic net—and subvert “world capitalism” (while all the while practicing their own unique scheme of ‘communist capitalism’).
The rapid expansion of the Belt &Road Initiative has already created fait accomplis in numerous countries both in the West and the less developed world. In Greece, for example, the Chinese control the port of Piraeus (the deepest port in the Mediterranean) and have plans of infrastructure building to connect Greece’s main port with EU countries as part of rapidly expanding Chinese exports to the core of Europe.
Only the less observant perceive Belt & Road as an “innocent” commercial venture. The Chinese communists have a long view of history and obviously appreciate establishing trade domination as the springboard for growing their global military reach as well (hint: British Empire). And with the US already suffering shattering blows, thanks to the Bidenista “adults” returning to Washington, the Chinese strategic threat stands to increase by leaps and bounds.
China's Growing Maritime Empire
While on the face of it, China's acquisitions of ports looks like mere commercial transactions based on an economically driven agenda -- the rhetoric China is employing -- several analysts have pointed out that geopolitical concerns seem to be what are actually driving China's port investments.
"A deliberate military and strategic functionality seems clearly entrenched in the initiative [acquisition of ports] ....there is abundant evidence it is developing a network of strategic strongpoints that can significantly raise the costs of any U.S. military intervention and lower the willingness of BRI [port] host governments to offer access or assistance to the United States." — Daniel R. Russell and Blake H. Berger, "Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative," Asia Society Policy Institute, September 2020.
"U.S. naval vessels might not be able to call regularly at ports under Chinese management because of the risk that commercial port information-technology (IT) systems could be used to monitor or interfere with military systems and jeopardize U.S. information and cybersecurity." — Admiral Gary Roughead, US Navy Chief of Naval Operations, Naval War College Review, Winter 2019.
For that reason, the US warned Israel that China's management of the new Haifa port terminal could potentially damage US-Israeli security cooperation, as it might lead to US Navy ships refraining from docking there.
"By creating a global port network for ostensibly commercial purposes, China has gained the ability to project power through the increased physical presence of its naval vessels—turning the oceans that historically have protected the United States from foreign threats into a venue in which China can challenge U.S. interests." — Christopher R. O'Dea, Naval War College Review, Winter 2019.
Another grave concern is that Chinese port investments create economic and political leverage for the CCP that can affect local policy and decision making... After China invested in and acquired much of the port of Piraeus, Greece blocked an EU statement criticizing China's human rights record.... prevented a unified EU statement against China's behavior in the South China Sea... and opposed tougher screenings of Chinese investments in Europe -- a predictable move for all nations that become beholden to Chinese investments.