Dance with the dragon
China is being increasingly associated with the fire-breathing dragon, which in Western mythology was usually regarded as a monster that had to be destroyed. Such fire dragons also exist in Asia. But the East Asian dragon is an ambivalent creature with predominantly positive qualities: a symbol of fertility, of wealth, auspiciousness, goodness and intelligence – and of imperial power.
Similarly ambivalent is the brand name ‘Belt and Road’, which stands for world-wide infrastructure development, billion-dollar investments and integration into a “community with a shared future”. On one hand, it promises ‘New Silk Roads’, linking it to a historical, supposedly Golden Age of an equitable, flourishing interchange between China and Europe. On the other hand, it is being interpreted as a seductive web in which participating countries become entangled and dependent on Beijing’s power ambitions.
China’s global reach in all areas has long since progressed to the point where the dance with the dragon is in full swing. The music for it is currently being written by a wide variety of composers. One of the basic rules for this dance: don’t step too firmly on the dragon’s feet.
Latest posts
- Just another BRICS in the WallAccording to the Western view, China and Russia were successful at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg with their objective of strengthening BRICS as an anti-Western alliance. It is indeed surprising that India, South Africa and Brazil have joined the invitation to six other countries, including Iran, albeit after some resistance. Western commentators are now faced with the mystery of why important countries of the Global South are behaving in a completely unreasonable manner.
- Newsletter 7/2023Contents: Und Chinas nächste Marinebasis ist …. +++ Vor dem BRICS-Gipfel … +++ Water cannon incident: Threatening “peace and security” +++ 1.000.000.000.000 US-Dollar für Belt&Road +++ Belt&Road in Kambodscha: Groß und teuer +++ Ciao China: Giorgia Meloni sucht die Ausfahrt +++ Readings: Auf der Suche nach Chinas Marinestützpunkten +++ Quote: NATO’s Expansion
- BRI 10 years after: Low mood to celebrateThe Chinese government will probably not be able to avoid paying tribute to the 10th anniversary of the kick-off of the Belt&Road Initiative, then called OBOR, by State and Party leader Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013. While it remained unclear for some time how this tribute would work out, there are now indications that there may be a 3rd Belt&Road Forum for International Cooperation this autumn. However, if this should materialize despite the narrow time frame by now, it will probably be difficult to top the influx of delegations from all over the world experienced at the first two meetings in 2017 and 2019. Because the times they have changed for Belt&Road.
- Germany’s China Strategy: “Wash me, but don’t make me wet!”The draft of Germany’s China strategy, which was presented on July 13, vacillates between the demand to checkmate the enemy and the desire to continue reaping the benefits of cooperation – both of which will be expensive in any case. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) immediately demanded that ‘Germany as a business location’ be made more attractive again. And the partners in the Global South courted for the balancing act between ‘risk reduction’ and ‘decoupling’ are predominantly skeptical.
- Newsletter 6/2023Contents: Deutsche China-Strategie: “Wasch mir den Pelz,…!” +++ Wird Indonesien Chinas ‘Ruhrgebiet’? +++ BRI 10 years after: Geringe Feierlaune +++ Mapping global infrastructure +++ Chinesischer Grüngürtel in Zentralasien (und anderswo) +++ Lithium: Claims abstecken in Lateinamerika +++ China’s overseas economic and trade cooperation zones +++ A Guide to Chinese Commercial Banks +++ Quote: Im Netz der „Einflussoperationen“
- Newsletter 5/2023Contents: Hindernisse auf der Seidenstraße +++ Schuldzuweisungen in der Schuldenkrise +++ Europeans consider economic relationship with China as bearing more benefits than risks +++ „The Future of Geopolitics Will Be Decided by 6 Swing States“ +++ Chinese Investments and Labour Struggles in Indonesia +++ Internationale Solidarität aufbauen! +++ Cambodia: Benefits and Costs of participation in BRI +++ „Guardians of the Belt and Road“ +++ The risks and rewards of economic sanctions +++ Preparing for or preventing war with China