Photo: Courtesy of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China

While the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has reaped fruitful achievements over the past 10 years, the country should be highly wary of the US using the BRI to create unrest in countries along the route and shift attention away from its own domestic problems, a Chinese report said on Wednesday.

According to the report, released by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, among the 674 research reports on the BRI in the first nine months of 2021, many national think tanks, such as those in Russia, Singapore, Pakistan and other countries, noted that the BRI will bring real opportunities and cooperation dividends to all parties along the route, and that all countries should participate in it, which will not only benefit China's development, but also benefit the international community.

However, some think tanks in other countries, especially those in the US, have obvious political overtones in their studies of the BRI. Most of these studies have made accusations about "debt traps," a "lack of transparency," or "pollution of the investment environment" and "cross-border corruption" to denigrate the initiative. Meanwhile, the US also proposed the "Build Back Better World (B3W)" initiative as an alternative to the BRI.

These strongly ideological political manipulations, think tank studies and news reports have seriously damaged the overall image of the BRI, and must be highly alarming to Chinese think tanks and academics, the report read.

In order to meet external challenges, China should firmly refute the deliberate distortions about the BRI. In addition, the country should profoundly expose certain think tanks' attempts to discredit and smear the initiative.

The reported also suggested that China should be highly vigilant against the US using the BRI to create unrest in countries along the route in an attempt to shift attention away from its domestic conflicts. In recent years, the US has repeatedly reneged on its international commitments and obligations under the banner of "America First" and has become the biggest "troublemaker" in the international community.

The US has been creating tension and unrest in countries and regions along the BRI, including man-made environmental damage, creating employment and livelihood crises and expanding debt risks, with serious impacts on the political security, social stability and peace of people in countries along the route. At present, as populism, extreme nationalism, trade protectionism and other anti-globalization ideas are prevalent in the US, some politicians often use external issues to cover up domestic conflicts, sparing no effort to attack and discredit China, and trying to weaken China's influence in countries along the BRI, the report noted.

In order to address these challenges and further improve the quality of the BRI in the next 10 years, He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, said on Wednesday that the BRI should become a strong and integral part of the existing multilateral mechanism.

"The BRI is an integral part of the global infrastructure development goals, and we can cooperate with the US-proposed B3W and the EU's Global Gateway," He said.

Global Times