In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping, launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The idea was very similar to that of the game of Monopoly: whoever owns more property, has more power and gains more wealth.
Without much fanfare, China began to finance massive infrastructure projects and buy essential assets in countries around the world. Any country that wanted to benefit from China’s wealth and construction expertise had to sign an agreement that admitted it to the BRI. As of March this year, a whopping 147 countries have joined the initiative. In this way, without firing a single shot, China has carried out a successful worldwide invasion. Now, finally, the powers of the West are waking up.
The invasion is not limited to countries that have signed the BRI agreement. Chinese companies have bought or operate countless strategic assets in the US, for example. Chinese companies are also building Israel’s two new seaports (out of three that exist), Israel’s light rail, and a Chinese company owns Tnuva, Israel’s largest food manufacturer. What the Chinese realized long ago, and the West did not, is that investment means influence, and influence means conquest.
“Now the West has finally woke up. That is, the US has realized that China is simply buying up the world. The Chinese offered the US to join their initiative, but the US would never agree to join China on China’s terms.”
Now the West has finally woke up. That is, the US has realized that China is simply buying up the world. The Chinese offered the US to join their initiative, but the US would never agree to join China on China’s terms.
To counter China’s economic foray, the US recently brought together the seven most economically powerful western countries, known as the G7, to launch a counter-initiative that will hopefully impede the uninterrupted advancement of the BRI. The G7, consisting of the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, France, the UK, and Italy (which also signed the BRI agreement), have pledged $600 billion to counter China’s initiative. Regrettably for the G7, however, that sum is probably too little, too late.
China has gone a long way since the days when it was a closed, isolated country. First, it began to manufacture for the world. Subsequently, it began to export not only goods, but also expertise, labor, and wealth. If, previously, they admitted other countries into China by building factories that manufactured for European and American brands, now they are also penetrating those same countries through their wealth and expertise. The roles have been reversed.
For the moment, everyone seems content. Signatories to the BRI enjoy China’s wealth and building power, and do not have to pay for essential projects that would have been too costly for them to carry out. In return, China is gaining footholds in countries around the world, effectively buying their support.
“However, evolution never stops. China may think it can take over the world through economic power, but its downfall is bound to come. In the next phase of China’s evolution, forces will rise from within the country and disintegrate the Chinese society from within. It will take years, perhaps decades, but the process is certain to happen. When disintegration begins, China will decline.”
Ultimately, however, human nature will win and only the landlord, i.e., China, will reap the profits. In the case of Tnuva, for example, they will allegorically take the food and leave Israel with the leftovers.
However, evolution never stops. China may think it can take over the world through economic power, but its downfall is bound to come. In the next phase of China’s evolution, forces will rise from within the country and disintegrate the Chinese society from within. It will take years, perhaps decades, but the process is certain to happen. When disintegration begins, China will decline.
China cannot remain strong indefinitely because it is relying on one force—socialism. If you rely on one force, any force, and do not balance it with an equal measure of its counter force, you disrupt the natural balance that exists in reality, and reality eventually overwhelms you. The only way to remain strong and successful is by employing contradictory forces equally, and creating a union that does not suppress any of them or gives precedence to any one force over the other. Then, when you have a balanced system, longevity is guaranteed.
