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.
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- Chinese investment in Latin AmericaIn the past decade, Chinese investment into Latin America has so often been characterised by large infrastructure projects: roads, railways, dams and ports, among others, frequently backed by state finance, and in many countries arriving under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative. But in recent years, the nature of this investment has begun to change. While China continues to look to its Latin American partners for markets and key resources, it is now Chinese companies, rather than its lenders, that are the main protagonists of investment, with a focus on new technology sectors.
- The next Fuse in the South China SeaThe situation in the South China Sea is serious, but not hopeless. Serious because the skirmishes between China and the Philippines are tinkering with a new fuse for an explosive device. But not hopeless, because nobody here can really have any interest in a military conflict. It would only become really serious if the governments allowed themselves to be drawn into another regional war as a spin-off of the broader conflict between China and the USA.
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