China’s peaceful rise?

ACCORDING to the late Deng Xiaoping, “one country, two systems” means there is only one China and under this premise, the mainland adheres to the socialist system while Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan retain their capitalist systems over time. This has proven to be effective in the ‘80s to the ‘90s but economic development has not been the same for provinces in the northern part of the country as compared to the southern side, which faces the ocean. It has been said that the poor are becoming poorer while the rich are increasing their wealth and hold on the economy of China, thus creating some silent unrest. The need to open new markets has become a necessity for China.

Cognizant of its population and the limited natural resources to support its people, China needs to engage more with the outside world using culture as a magnet and trade as a means to open markets for its products and access resources for its domestic market as well as consumption needs. Hence, China took the next big leap in its so-called “open Asia” pronouncement in September and October 2013, when Chinese president Xi Jinping launched the Silk Road Economic Belt or SREB and the Maritime Silk Road or MSR under the Belt and Road Initiative or One Belt One Road (OBOR). OBOR is a “development strategy and framework, proposed by PRC that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia. OBOR is composed of two main components, the land-based SREB and ocean-going MSR.”