Angela Stanzel writes:\u00a0 Since 2013, China has been hyping its New Silk Road project. It launched a massive public relations campaign \u2013 which even held out the prospect of \u201cSilk Road Tourism\u201d \u2013 to turn the idea of a global transportation network into an incentive to cooperate with China and an expression of an Asian \u201ccommunity of destiny\u201d. But China will face huge challenges in making the New Silk Road a reality. One of the places where China had begun re-construction of ancient Silk Road links early on is Pakistan. But after decades, progress has been limited. Despite China\u2019s commitment to the Silk Road project, it\u2019s not clear that it is going anywhere.<\/p>\n
The \u201cBelt and Road\u201d initiative\u201d includes two elements, a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road; the aim is to create a northern road corridor and a southern maritime corridor to connect China with Europe. Beginning with Jiang Zemin in 1996, the Silk Road narrative has been long used by Chinese leaders to increase China\u2019s \u2013 mainly economic \u2013 cooperation with other countries in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, Africa \u2013 and in Europe.\u00a0 Since 2013, the new Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping has developed this narrative that integrates existing projects in two mega \u201cBelt and Road\u201d initiatives.<\/p>\n
The Silk Road initiative has also given a new impetus to China\u2019s infrastructure development in Pakistan. China\u2019s construction of the Karakoram Highway\/Road from China to Pakistan dates back to the beginning of the 1970s \u2013 long before the \u201cSilk Road\u201d hype of the last few months. China has financed and developed the Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea since the 1990s. Since 2013, China and Pakistan have been planning a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects Gwadar with China’s western Xinjiang region. According to Chinese president Xi Jinping, the Economic Corridor is \u201ca major project of the \u2018Belt and Road\u2019 initiative\u201d\u00a0 How Does the Silk Road Wind<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 Angela Stanzel writes:\u00a0 Since 2013, China has been hyping its New Silk Road project. It launched a massive public relations campaign \u2013 which even held out the prospect of \u201cSilk Road Tourism\u201d \u2013 to turn the idea of a global … Continue reading ![\"Silk](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Silk-Road.jpg\")
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