Syria joins China's BRI despite West's concerns of initiative being a debt-trap

Syria has become the latest country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) even though Beijing is increasingly being accused of using the infrastructural project as a way to trap nations in debt. According to China, Syria joining BRI would broaden the horizons of cooperation for the Middle-Eastern country. 

According to a report by Chinese state-run Xinhua, the ceremony of Syria’s admission to China’s ambitious infrastructural plan, BRI, took place at the Planning and International Cooperation Commission in the Syrian capital Damascus. The event was reportedly attended by the head of the commission, Fadi Khalil, and China’s ambassador to Syria, Feng Biao. During the ceremony, both Syria and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Damascas joining Beijing for its BRI.

Fadi Khalil says BRI initiative marks revival of Syria's role in ancient Silk Route

As per the report, Khalil said that the admission of Syria into the initiative marks the revival of Syria’s old role in the ancient Silk Route. The head of Syria’s Planning and International Cooperation Commission noted that country’s participation in China’s BRI will also contribute to boosting the bilateral ties between both the nations and also multilateral cooperation with other countries, which are desirous of cooperating with Syria. 

Khalil added that Syria had been one of the main nations on the ancient Silk Route especially its cities of Aleppo and Palmyra. With regards to the BRI, Chinesevenvoy Feng said that the cooperation between both countries acts as the greatest contribution to the economic reconstruction and social development in Syria. Feng said that the latest move also enhances the harmonisation between the BRI and the eastward strategy proposed by Syria. 

China’s Belt and Road Initiative 

China, in 2013, proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which also consist of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Beijing had said that the aim of the project is to build a trade, investment, and infrastructure network which would connect Asia with other parts of the world along the ancient Silk Road trade routes and even beyond. 

However, China’s BRI has drawn intense fire from several countries who say that the project has become synonymous with wasteful spending, ecological destruction and massive debt burdens on other states. According to an InsiderOver report published earlier, the BRI-critical nations also said that the infrastructural plan aims to make profits for the participating nation’s leaders and Chinese companies at the cost of the natural resources or people. 

A study in 2018 also found that 270 out of 1,814 BRI-related projects had issues related to debt sustainability, labour and environmental standards, national security, transparency, and corruption. Further, another study of 2017 revealed that 60-80% of Chinese companies in Africa confessed to paying bribes for getting contracts.

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