China's Belt & Road Initiative Conquers Europe Without Firing a Shot

There has been much grandstanding from the 5D Chess Club, concerning China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), namely that it is diametrically opposed by the Western globalists. The 5D Chess Club claim that the BRI (and the BRICS) are part of a grand scheme to defeat the big bad globalists and usher in a new era of equity, multipolarity and the pursuit of non-Western happiness.

Parallel to this, there is much angst and hand-wringing from the mainstream media who have painted a horrific picture of “diplomatic debt traps” and Chinese doom. The Council on Foreign Relations posted an article that sums up the typical Western position on the topic:

“China’s colossal infrastructure investments may usher in a new era of trade and growth for economies in Asia and beyond. But skeptics worry that China is laying a debt trap for borrowing governments.”

Yes, of course, it is a “debt trap.” All debt is a trap. It would be horrible nonsense for China to lend out a gazillion dollars to broke third world nations just for fun. It would also be naive to suggest China is wagering their entire economy, not to mention three decades of growth, on this massive infrastructure project out of the goodness of their heart. And that is not to say that the BRI is not a beneficial project, because it surely is a great and beneficial project that will have long term consequences that are a “win-win” for the whole planet.

(And some potential negative consequences, but we’ll get to that later.)

The CFR article further elaborates:

“… the United States shares the concern of some in Asia that the BRI could be a Trojan horse for China-led regional development and military expansion. President Joe Biden has maintained his predecessors’ skeptical stance towards Beijing’s actions, but Washington has struggled to offer participating governments a more appealing economic vision.”

To date, over 150 countries have signed on to the project—accounting for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40 percent of global GDP. This is in addition to the fact that China is trading with 234 countries and territories, of which China has a trade surplus with 174. This represent the greatest trading empire in world history.

Many analysts insist that the West, and specifically America have no interest in joining the BRI, and that the West is hostile to the project. Yet, there are some serious problems with this hypothesis.

For starters, China’s top export partner is the United States, with over $600 billion in annual trade. If we study our first map, we can plainly see that the US/China maritime shipping route carries the largest volume of containers in the world. The second highest volume of shipping traffic goes from China, through the Strait of Malacca and onward through the Suez Canal, terminating in Europe.

In other words, the United States is already the main Belt and Road partner. There is no need for the US to sign on to build new ports and harbours, when they already are the main shipping destination of Chinese goods, and the infrastructure and trade routes are already well established.

The second point, that is based on geography, and which should be an obvious point—the United States could not possibly join the BRI road and rail projects, due to the two large oceans separating North America from China and Europe.

EUROPE IS THE WESTERN DESTINATION OF THE BRI

The two largest ports in Europe are in Rotterdam, and just south is the Antwerp harbour in Belgium. The western terminus points of the Belt and Road meet at the harbours at Rotterdam and Antwerp.

According to a report by Clingendael, otherwise known as the Netherlands Institute of International Relations:

“The importance of Chinese cargo for the port of Rotterdam and the Dutch economy has increased significantly. Besides imports and exports, it involves transit and re-export flows. This increase is not reflected in a similar increase in the impact of Chinese activity in logistics in the Netherlands. There is a big difference between the volume of China-related deep sea container flows in the port of Rotterdam (55% share) and the degree of Chinese state-owned enterprises-related ownership in the Rotterdam container terminal infrastructure (8.2% share). If Hutchison Port Holdings is also counted as a Chinese company, this represents a 73.3% share of Rotterdam deep sea container terminal activity owned by Chinese parties.”

Another key European hub of the BRI in Europe is the port of Piraeus, Greece. According to a report:

“Since China's COSCO Shipping bought into Greece's largest but ailing Port of Piraeus 13 years ago, the harbor has experienced rapid growth and has been transformed into a bustling key transport hub at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa. The flagship project in bilateral collaboration has been hailed as an exemplary success story under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by business insiders and observers alike.”

Chinese companies are investing 350 million euros in the port facilities by 2026 and a further 200 million euros in associated projects such as hotels. Piraeus is also an important connecting hub for the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor. (IMEC)

The IMEC is a multilateral initiative aimed at reviving ancient trade routes and forging new economic ties between regions historically interconnected through commerce, culture, and collaborative diplomacy. Launched in September 2023, the corridor seeks to create a comprehensive transportation network, comprised of rail, road and sea routes, connecting India, the Middle East and Europe. The IMEC involves partnerships between India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan and the European Union.

STEEL CAMEL CARAVAN

The China-Europe freight train, often called the “steel camel caravan,” initiated service between China and Europe in March 2011, with the first freight route linking China to Tehran, cutting travel time from 30 days to just 14 days.

The China–Britain route was launched in January 2017. From a BBC article, discussing the 12,000 kilometer journey:

“The proliferation of routes linking China and Europe is part of a strategy launched in 2013 aimed at boosting infrastructure links with Europe along the former Silk Road trading routes.

London will become the 15th European city to join what the Chinese government calls the New Silk Route.

The service will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving at Barking Rail Freight Terminal in East London, which is directly connected to the High Speed 1 rail line to the European mainland.”

As of 2018, the network had expanded to cover 48 Chinese cities and 42 European destinations, delivering goods between China and Europe. The 10,000th trip was completed on August 26, 2018 with the arrival of freight train X8044 in Wuhan, China from Hamburg, Germany, reducing travel time by nearly 24 hours.

As of the end of February, the freight service had connected 120 Chinese cities and 219 cities in 25 European countries.

In a report by the China Customs Information Center:

“Statistics show that China's total imports and exports with the 25 European countries reached by China-Europe Railway Express grew from 4 trillion yuan in 2013 to 7.42 trillion yuan in 2022. The two sides have witnessed continuously expanding trade volume, as well as facilitated trade exchanges.”

CHINA CONQUERS EUROPE WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT

Other European nations that have signed MOU’s with China:

Portugal — During Xi's visit to Lisbon in December 2018, Portugal signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China because China wants to continue investing in Portugal with its deep-water port in Sines. “BRI is a stable and sustainable initiative to develop economic cooperation between Portugal, China, and Portuguese-speaking countries,” said Fernanda Ilheu, president of the Friends of the New Silk Road Association (ANRS) in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Austria — During a visit of Chancellor Kurz to China in April 2019, a MOU was signed on Austria's cooperation in the BRI project. According to Kurz, Austria “supports the One Belt One Road initiative and [is] trying to forge a close economic cooperation [with China]. Austria has know-how and expertise to offer in many areas, where China is looking for the same.”

From an editorial in CGTN Chinese news agency:

Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen's re-election in 2022 provides numerous opportunities for the China-Austria bilateral relationship and strategic partnership to move forward. By jointly promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), strengthening anti-corruption drives and tackling regional and global security challenges, both sides can contribute to global development and peace.

Luxembourg — On 27 March 2019, Luxembourg signed an agreement with China to cooperate on Belt and Road Initiative. As reported by RTL Luxembourg, an MOU was signed to establish a direct rail link between Zhengzhou and Bettembourg in southern Luxembourg. In 2014, Henan Civil Aviation and Investment Company purchased a 35% stake in Cargolux Airlines International, which operates the biggest all-cargo airline at Luxembourg Airport. Cargolux is the world’s sixth largest air freighter, and the biggest in Europe, with routes covering all parts of the world. Zhengzhou and Luxembourg airports are working together to build an international air cargo network, with Zhengzhou as the Asia-Pacific logistics center, and Luxembourg as the logistics center for Europe and America.

Switzerland — On April 29, 2019, during his visit to Beijing, Swiss President Ueli Maurer signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China under the Belt and Road Initiative:

“Joining the BRI means Swiss companies will be able to get involved in infrastructure and other projects in participating countries,” according to Liu Ying, a research fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

“There is massive potential for multilateral cooperation under the BRI,” Liu told the Global Times on Thursday. “Small countries like Switzerland are more independent when it comes to multilateral trade and cooperation.”

Trade among BRI markets has surged in recent years. Between 2013 and 2018, trade volume between China and other BRI countries and regions exceeded $6 trillion, with annual growth of 4 percent, according to data released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

Poland — Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Xi Jinping wave to the crowd during the inauguration of the China Railway Express in Warsaw, June 20, 2016. Poland was one of the first European countries to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China about the BRI in 2015. Poland's President Duda said that he hopes Poland will become a gateway to Europe for China. On May 25, China launched its 90,000th freight train from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, to Małaszewicze, Poland.

As we can see from another bonus map, Europe has multiple ongoing and completed BRI projects involving airports, rail, road and sea ports:

The Belt and Road Initiative’s main theme is to connect Asia with Europe and Africa—explicitly stated by Xi Jinping, from the earliest conception of the project:

“The Belt and Road Initiative is rooted in the ancient Silk Road. It focuses on the Asian, European and African continents, but is also open to all other countries. All countries, from either Asia, Europe, Africa or the Americas, can be international cooperation partners of the Belt and Road Initiative. The pursuit of this initiative is based on extensive consultation and its benefits will be shared by us all.”

For a complete list of the BRI nations.

THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE AND THE GREAT RESET

The World Economic Forum can’t get enough multipolar love. The WEF website has no fewer than 1150 articles about the Multipolar World. Ditto for the Belt and Road Initiative:

What does this mean for the world at large? Are we about to be turned into a global communist police state modelled after the CCP? The answer is probably yes. Citizens are going to be systematically de-nationed and un-countried. The EU is one of the center pieces of the WEF plans for re-inventing the nation-state system, and turning transportation corridors into regional hubs.

The massive BRI infrastructure project will force lower border restrictions, lowered tariffs and free trade zones. Otherwise, it won’t work. The possibility of taking a train from London to Beijing in under 14 days is exciting news for travellers, but the price is greater control of civilians, and the degradation of civil rights and freedoms on an unprecedented global scale.

The possibility of China funnelling thousands of troops into Europe in a similar time frame is unsettling to say the least, especially when China can whip up an army of a million soldiers faster than you can dim sum. Why wouldn’t China send troops to protect its investment, and quell popular (or unpopular) revolt along its road and rail lines, especially after it invested over a trillion dollars on the project?

It would appear that China’s Belt and Road is another facet of the Great Reset. In fact, the brand name Great Reset is a soft sell. It should really be called The Stupendous Mega Gigantasaurus Reset, but that would scare everybody away.

EPILOGUE: THE BIG MAGA LOSER

Why does the United States have no similar projects? Canada, America and Mexico seem ideal to build high speed trains and have them racing down either coasts. Why is there not a whisper about investing MAGA dollars into the North American economy?

America is chock full of high tech over-achievers, yet not even rocket wizard Elon Musk has said a peep about rebuilding America’s decrepit and ailing infrastructure. Instead, Musk is babbling on like a retard about regulatory reforms, administrative reductions and saving a few bucks by firing civil servants.

Wut?

Donald Trump originally ran in 2016 on an infrastructure platform, yet once elected, Trump’s infrastructure plans vanished like Jeffrey Epstein in a prison cell.

It would seem like a no-brainer to invest in mega projects—if Trump was genuinely sincere in Making America Great Again—but the truth is, he is much more interested in Making America a Great Reset Again—and that is why he was dragged out of his orange bat cave to swoop down on Gotham and cause havoc, in order to distract Americans from the awful truth they are getting the short end of the stick this time around.

There are always winners and losers in life. History has shown that some cultures get wiped out by bigger, bolder cultures who show no mercy in crushing their hopes and dreams, in order to fulfill their own delusions of grandeur.

Utopias always lead to dystopias, and dictators invariably become gods, who demand daily worship.

― Ma Jian, China Dream