On China's New Silk Road podcast, 9 episodes

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

VIP
Ethiopia and the Road Ahead
Episode 9: Chinese investment in Africa has built roads, railways, dams, and more, spurring new interest and competition from other global investors. Critics say China’s too often exploitative, including with loans that leave some countries too deeply in debt. But its investments helped famine-prone Ethiopia become one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Now, however, civil strife is putting that success at risk, for both Ethiopia and China.
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Mary Kay Magistad explores how China's New Silk Road may change the world. Dozens of countries have invited China to build roads, railways, ports, 5G networks, and more. How is China’s global ambition seen around the world and what impact are its investments having on the ground? Over nine episodes, Mary Kay, a former China correspondent for NPR and PRX’s β€œThe World,” partners with local journalists on five continents to uncover the effects of the most sweeping global infrastructure initiative in history.

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π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

VIP
New US-backed India-Middle East trade route to challenge China’s ambitions
US President Joe Biden, along with leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, announced on Saturday the launch of a new trade route connecting India to the Middle East and Europe through railways and ports. The White House said the project would usher in a β€œnew era of connectivity.”

Some analysts are saying it will be a direct challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure project launched a decade ago by Beijing with the aim of connecting China to the rest of the world.

FACT SHEET: World Leaders Launch a Landmark India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
Today, we the leaders of the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union announced a Memorandum of Understanding committing to work together to develop a new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Announced at the G20 Leaders’ event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, this landmark corridor is expected to stimulate economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration across two continents, thus unlocking sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
 
π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

VIP
This 500 mile railway tracks, China built, from Adis to Jibouti bears relevance as to the sudden interest of the West in .So, and the Horn in general. The West blocked China's route via the seas, and now China is establishing trade route through land to reach North, and West Africa.

Train route: Addis Ababa -> Adama -> Dire Dawa -> Dawanle -> Ali Sabieh -> Jibouti.

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Train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti - train times & fares

Train times, fares & practical information for train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti, namely the Dire Daoua train.
www.seat61.com
 
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π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

VIP
To farther pursue that thread, Morocco, home to 75% of phosphate* reserves in the world, sold off rights to China, which in turn shall afford China control of world's food reserves.

Connecting Africa by railways fits right into China's strategy in economic dominance. The West finds itself on its heels playing a catch-up game of spoiling, delaying, and scheming.

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* One of the 3 compounds of food fertilizers is phosphate (PO) with the other two being nitrogen (N 7) and potassium (K 19) based compounds. Potash, a derivative compound of phosphate and potassium is critical to fertilisation, and by extension mass food production with Canada now being the largest producer of potash, 1/3rd, with Russia and China 10% - 20% production. Rest of the world only produces 19%. Now, with China owning largest phosphate reserves in the world, by way of Morocco, the world is at China's mercy.

Largest phosphate reserves are found in Western Sahara, reason the Polisario conflict is critical to Morocco, and other nations.

Postscript:
The history of 'guano' in mass food production is fascinating.
americanhistory.si.edu

What a load of guano: 5 facts you didn't know about bird poop

americanhistory.si.edu americanhistory.si.edu

academic.oup.com

From guano to green hydrogen: food security and fertilizer disputes in international energy law

Abstract. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered energy and food crises, driven by demand for natural gas as fuel and fertilizer feedstock. By adopting a r
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π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

π’‹π’–π’†π’”π’–π’•π’ˆ

VIP
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
The BRI is an ambitious plan to develop two new trade routes connecting China with the rest of the world. But the initiative is about far more than infrastructure. It is an effort to develop an expanded, interdependent market for China, grow China’s economic and political power, and create the right conditions for China to build a high technology economy.

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Background:
For more than 2,000 years, China’s commercial ties with the outside world have been symbolized by the ancient Silk Road, which began as a tortuous trading network of mountain paths and sea routes that provided a lifeline for the Chinese economy.

Today, China is attempting to rebuild the Silk Road with the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative has a prominent place in China’s 13th five-year plan, released in October 2015, 1 and is the country’s most ambitious foreign trade and investment project. Spanning 65 countries and 60 percent of the world’s population, it aims to redraw the trade routes for Chinese products. One arm, the Silk Road Economic Belt, extends from China to Europe through Central Asia, and the other, the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, links China to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa along sea routes. In addition to the 65 countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe that are already part of the Chinese initiative, the European Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding on the so-called EU-China Connectivity Platform, created in June 2015, coordinating the European Commission’s Trans-European Networks strategy with new Belt and Road projects.

From the West's perspective

Summary
  • The Belt and Road Initiative is a massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe.
  • Some analysts see the project as a disturbing expansion of Chinese power, and the United States has struggled to offer a competing vision.
  • The initiative has stoked opposition in some Belt and Road countries that have experienced debt crises.
www.cfr.org

China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative

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.
www.cfr.org www.cfr.org

Countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative
www.cfr.org

Countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Who’s In And Who’s Out

Jennifer Hillman and David Sacks are codirectors of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report on a U.S. Response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is co-chaired by Jacob J. Lew and Gar…
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String of pearls theory



For whom the bell tolls: India pipping on behalf of the West
 
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