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Media Report
May 17 , 2017
  • The Guardian：The west is mired in 'soft' development. China is trying the 'hard' stuff
    The Guardian reports: "Views are sharply divided on the viability and usefulness of the Chinese-led One Belt One Road (Obor) project, which plans to reconstruct the ancient Silk Road trade routes while also building new trading routes out into the oceans...There are two parts of the project that are worthwhile emphasizing: the scope and the philosophy. The scope is immense. The project involves more than 60 countries, two out of every three persons living in the world, and the areas producing 40% of world output. It includes most of the Eurasian continent and eastern Africa...More importantly, Obor represents a major change in developmental philosophy. Since the 1980s, first with structural adjustment loans and then even more so after the fall of communism in the 1990s, western-led development organisations adopted a philosophy where development was no longer seen as brick-and-mortar building of factories and bridges, but as institution-building and policy change...The Obor project brings us back to a philosophy that prevailed in development lending before the 1980s. Development does not happen by itself and it is not just a matter of having the right prices, lowering taxes and deregulating everything...The intellectual antecedents of the project go back far in time, to the idea that trade is good for world peace, rather to the Kantian view that durable peace is possible only among democratic nations. It may yet prove these old ideas right."
  • Bloomberg View：Can China Afford Its Belt and Road?
    Bloomberg View comments: "China's just-completed conference touting its Belt and Road initiative certainly looked like a triumph, with Russian President Vladimir Putin playing the piano and Chinese leaders announcing a string of potential deals and massive financial pledges. Underneath all the heady talk about China positioning itself at the heart of a new global order, though, lies in uncomfortable question: Can it afford to do so? Such doubts might seem spurious, given the numbers being tossed around. China claims nearly $900 billion worth of deals are already underway, with estimates of future spending ranging from $4 trillion to $8 trillion, depending on which Chinese government agency is doing the talking. At the conference itself, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged another $78 billion for the effort...From no other country in the world would such pledges be remotely plausible. Yet even for China, they'll be difficult to fulfill without clashing with the country's other objectives...But it's almost certain that the amount of money that makes its way into Belt-and-Road projects will be significantly lower than advertised. Grand in ambition but short on details, Xi's sweeping initiative may be better thought of as a 'philosophy' or 'party line,' rather than a fixed commitment. One thing's for sure: It's going to be a lot harder than putting on a conference."
  • The New York Times：China Is Reluctant to Blame North Korea, Its Ally, for Cyberattack
    The New York Times reports: "North Korea's history of erratic behavior has embarrassed China in many ways. But through it all, China has remained stoic about its neighbor and ally. As evidence mounts that North Korea may have links to a ransomware attack that destroyed more than 200,000 computers globally — and hit 40,000 institutions in China — China's response has been muted, like a parent unwilling to confront an unruly teenager. Which raises the question: How far can North Korea go without getting disciplined by its much more powerful neighbor? China has been one of the biggest victims of the ransomware attack, which crippled computers at universities, major businesses and governments across the country, adding a dangerous new element to its risky behavior that has increasingly alarmed Chinese leaders. 'North Korea has been a constant threat in terms of missiles and nuclear weapons,' said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University. 'All of a sudden, it poses a cyber threat.' 'This time if it's from North Korea, the malware was targeted indiscriminately against all computers', Mr. Cheng added. 'That's a big change. It harms and threatens China.' But China analysts say Beijing will hesitate before directly casting blame on North Korea even if evidence directly ties the North to the attack. Beijing is more likely to single out other actors, particularly the United States, experts say."
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