The massive One Belt One Road project harkens back to a pre-Washington-consensus when rich countries built bridges rather than soft power
Views are sharply divided on the viability and usefulness of the Chinese-led One Belt One Road (Obor) project, which plans to reconstruct the ancient Silk Road trade routes while also building new trading routes out into the oceans.
Some in the development world think it will be a colossal waste of money with no practical gains — akin to the expeditions that the Chinese Admiral Zheng He led along the coasts of south-east Asia and east Africa in the 15th century, before the whole idea of exploration was abruptly shut down by his emperor. But others believe that it can jump-start worldwide development, broaden globalisation and make it irreversible. The official Chinese news agency described the plan as a “Chinese solution to global economic blues”.