[NEWS] Five links on China's economic rise: Belt and Road, insecurity, Sri Lanka, Montenegro

[rfmcdonald]

• This explainer from The Guardian explaining what, exactly, is the famed Belt and Road policy of China is informative.


• This article at The Conversation considers whether or not China actually has the edge needed to lead the world. More likely, perhaps, is fragmentation in the face of the different weaknesses of China and the United States.


• This article in The Atlantic by David Frum suggesting that the huge surge of Chinese investment overseas is driven not so much by strength as insecurity--why so many second homes away from China?--makes a compelling argument.


• This Maria Abi-Habib article from The New York Times takes a look at how China was able to secure the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Critically, the fecklessness of the Sri Lankan goverment, dominated by Sinhalese nationalists, was key.


• This Reuters article looks at how the government of Montenegro has gone badly into debt to finance a Chinese-planned highway of dubious economic sense.