Much analysis is missing perhaps the most important potential role of China’s Silk Road aspirations.
By Ma Junjie
Three years ago, I took part in a tour of the Grand Bazaar in old town Istanbul. Among various spices, embroideries, artifacts, and foods, silk was in short supply. That surprised me; it was as though I had entered a meat market without seeing any lamb or beef. In this westernmost harbor of the ancient silk road, I was later corrected by my Turkish friend: The Grand Bazaar was by no means the biggest in the world. (In fact the biggest Grand Bazaar is in Urumqi.) Perhaps more surprising, the Silk Road has never been mainly about silk, nor is it a road.
One of the most popular terms for China’s diplomatic achievements in 2014 is arguably its strategy of “One Belt, One Road,” i.e., the New Silk Road Economic Belt, which links China with Europe through Central and Western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which connects China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe. Even though Professor Justin Yifu Lin recently spoke of an extra “One Continent,” the proposal does not exceed the original scope of the Silk Road. However, the strategy is considered to signal a shift in Chinese diplomacy.
Many articles have been written since this strategy first emerged, analyzing each and every possible aspect of the two routes, one land-based, one maritime. The economic, political and diplomatic implications, should this strategy turn into a workable roadmap, have been thoroughly examined. The strategy has been dissected in seminars, workshops, and high-level conferences and forums. Yet there’s an important dimension to the analysis that has been missing: the critical function of the New Silk Road in terms of conveying and spreading ideas.
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