WASHINGTON (CU)_US President Joe Biden says that he suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson a plan for democratic nations to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI).
Revealing details of his phone call with the British leader on Friday (26 March), President Biden said: “I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative, pulling from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world that, in fact, need help.”
The BRI is a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure project launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, which involves development and investment initiatives, particularly in less developed countries from East Asia to Europe. The project has prompted concerns in the United States as it would significantly expand China’s economic and political influence in the international arena.
President Biden said on Thursday that he would prevent the communist superpower from surpassing the US to become the world’s most powerful country.
Accordingly, the American leader plans to unveil a multitrillion-dollar plan to upgrade the country’s infrastructure, which he said would ensure increased US investment in new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotechnology.
However, with more than 100 countries having signed about 2,600 agreements with Beijing to cooperate in BRI projects, Washington is yet to succeed in convincing fellow countries that it can offer alternatives to the initiative.
BRI projects often involve development of highways, ports, railways and other infrastructure, and according to Refinitiv, a financial market data provider, as of mid-last year, projects at a cost of $3.7 trillion were linked to the initiative.
Nevertheless, several countries have criticised these projects as costly and unnecessary, and have sought to review, scale down or cancel their commitments under the BRI over cost, corruption and sovereignty. Moreover, Beijing also said last year that about 20 per cent of projects launched under the initiative have been “seriously affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic.
