Xi’s $1 Trillion ‘Project of the Century’ Faces Uncertain Future

-- When President Xi Jinping first assembled world leaders to map out his vision for expanding Chinese soft power via a web of infrastructure investment in 2017, he called the Belt and Road the “project of the century.”As the Chinese statesman opens the third Belt and Road Forum this week, the future of his brainchild looks uncertain.

Xi will have the chance to answer his critics when a host of Global South leaders arrive this week to pledge support for the program and test Beijing’s bandwidth for new deals — chief among them Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez and Thai Premier Srettha Thavisin are also attending.

China has responded by shifting to so-called “small but beautiful” projects that benefit people’s livelihoods. The state-run People’s Daily this month cited a water plant in Botswana upgraded by a Chinese firm and a technology partnership with a seed company in Costa Rica as examples. Yet the Belt and Road initiative has always been loosely defined, with the label often applied to any projects in nations with friendly ties to China.

China’s Foreign Ministry hasn’t announced plans for a leader’s roundtable that Xi hosted at the two previous events, as the summit looks set to attract a smaller crowd of world leaders.For Global South nations, Xi’s efforts to pitch his country as a leader of the developing world has been a vital source of funding. China extended $114 billion in development financing to Africa alone from 2013 to 2021, according to a study by Boston University.

Even with the slower pace of investment, Xi’s imprint means BRI won’t fade away, according to Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Hamas is laying a trap for Israel in Gaza, Alex Younger, former head of UK's MI6 foreign intelligence service, told the BBC.Leopard’s purr is giving Ukraine’s tank troops an element of surprise

During Lake's Senate campaign kickoff, she largely steered clear of past election grievances and instead spoke of the need for honesty in elections.A former Ukrainian presidential adviser has described Kyiv’s stalled counter-offensive as a “disaster” and accused Volodymyr Zelensky of making strategic mistakes.Hassan Nasrallah is one man capable of igniting a wider war in the Middle East

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