China’s Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Motivations and Its Impacts On Developing Countries

This chapter asks how would the BRI will impact developing countries participating in the initiative in the medium and long term. Using a multi-level analysis, the author argues that China has strategic, economic, and political calculations and motivations behind their leaders’ rhetoric. In the case of the participating developing countries, besides the benefits they could potentially receive, they would also face economic, political, and security risks. The risks include the potential to be subjected to economic vassalage, debt burdens and becoming diplomatically beholden to China.