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Saturday, October 5, 2024

Book Review: China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and South Asia

Book Review: China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and South Asia; A Political Economic Analysis of its Purposes, Perils, and Promise

The book, ‘China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and South Asia; A Political Economic Analysis of its Purposes, Perils, and Promise‘, was an exhilarating read revolving around the economics outlining the new Silk Road and its new beginnings. It related political policy in the south Asian and EU-Asia trade border lines. These borders seemed to know no basic conflicts. Mutual friendships appeared to shine through economic accumulation. It went on to stress the importance of China`s role in uniting a front of emerging economies waiting to appear on the monetary map. However, some glitches surrounding these routes were also noted which showed that this was not a controlled and ideal experiment, and after all, this is Planet Earth.

The book started its mainstream writing by charting challenges faced by the nation to make the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project a success. The authors wrote in a sensational paragraph, “It is far from a foregone conclusion that China’s two ambitious plans will yield what Beijing wants them to deliver economically or politically or that both projects will be fully realized”. This optimistic message communicated the rise of such a robust strategy for connections between China, its allies and whoever it seems to be a valuable network for modernising and speeding up Trade.

Although, one issue gave the impression of an absence of trade values and variances, especially amongst the more detailed chapters which would feature repetition of a few philosophies. It also had very little mention of adversary powers such as the United States or even exceptional neighbouring rivals which do not necessarily have interests overseas. Some of the points recorded the mounting welfares in the Indian Ocean.

Read more: Making sense of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Despite such errors and omissions, the book remarkably showed the geographical acquaintances with the introduction of individual relationships that China has. These included those with Pakistan. “The so-called CPEC would develop links between the Arabian Sea and China’s Xinjiang province through Pakistan, including pipeline and road/rail links from the Chinese border to Gwadar.”

The book also notably recalled the ideology of separating opinions from factual details. Though some details were basic and not dug-out details, some were very specific and resourceful, presentable for references and data samples for other papers. The book also shined sovereign corridors outside of Chinese relations.

The hardcover treasure truly fulfilled the promise of Political analysis. “…conflict over Taiwan or Japan. In the event of such a blockade, US forces could block third-country Indian Ocean ports only at the cost of violating the rights of neutral, non-belligerent powers under international law.” International Politics is no doubt, a central issue orbiting the regions multi-lateral growth.

Read more: Xi Jinping: The leader who gave the world ‘Belt and Road’

The stark contrast between past routes and future innovations confidently aided the systemic flow through many acquaintances of heritage and prospects. It continued its page count while undertaking a professional tone. No breaks in the text were required and the reader needed great amounts of concentration and understanding, which is generally proficient among other Books concerning these rises.

A material focus was also the upsurge of non-political investments, notwithstanding with other trade rules, especially considering the standoffs between China and other emerging Superpowers in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. “The lure of India’s domestic market coupled with a lower cost of labor-intensive operations should reflect in more Chinese FDI in India, at a time when China has become a net capital exporter, and its outward FDI would fall in line with the objectives of the OBOR and MSRI (Maritime Silk Road Initiative)”.

The microscopic emphasis upon the logistics and transport guidelines really helped guide the reader`s attention through the book. Functioning sources as footnotes helped the full understanding of a specific study.

Read more: Perspective on China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Building a global world order

References were quite efficiently provided throughout the text. There were rarely any passages when full sources were not given. These references provided relevant links to concerned sites by the text. Grammatical errors were not found. However, some regional varied spelling did put the desired content a bit out of line. The book`s authors precisely gave other sources in the Index. The Index was also particular to the point of divisions in different pages and a more diverse detail of ideas towards the end of the book.

I specifically liked the deep amount of understanding that contributed to the book`s dramatic turns. This familiarity with the idea not only helped get the message across but also made the impression of this knowledge stand out in particular. The tone was specifically interesting and to the point. It was never detailed to the point where skipping through the text was possible.

The amount of interest also assisted the structural representation of data in the form of charts, and those too were also clarified in great elements. One point missing in the book was an excess of relations with simple neighbours and mostly controversial points of interests. It could have given less basic points regarding India and Pakistan`s standstill relationship and how it relates to China as many books mostly feature such goals, and tends to provide a polarised view. Otherwise, the OBOR Project and MSRI Initiative were greatly detailed as a self-regulating aim.

Juan Abbas is a freelance writer for the Daily Times. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.