The emergence of China as a possible competitor to Western supremacy led by the United States has indicated the return of great power competition in the international order. China has enjoyed phenomenal growth in technology, innovation and the high-tech industry over the last two decades. It aspires to become the world's number one power by 2049, with a world-class military. Its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project, which aims to incorporate much of Eurasia into its economy, points to a growing great power conflict between the U.S. and China.

The BRI contains approximately 2,600 projects in over 100 countries, totaling $3.7 trillion in value. It is a large-scale initiative involving several countries that will require extensive coordination and implementation, which could pose substantial hurdles for China. The BRI's success appears inevitable, given China's large influx of finances, the projects' potential to create self-sustaining income, and intrinsic flexibility for corrections and upgrading of its execution process.

'Build Back Better World'

This research note highlights that the U.S. has continued to emphasize the BRI's economic concerns, particularly the debt-trap issues that smaller countries are likely to face. The rivalry between the U.S. and China is a full-fledged strategic fight for riches, power and influence, both inside East Asia and globally. Significantly, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration stated its intention to compete with an infrastructure strategy, Build Back Better World (B3W), as an alternative to the BRI, under the G-7 framework. Matching the multi-trillion-dollar BRI, which has been ongoing since 2013, would be difficult. Each side is hell-bent on improving its worldwide position and freedom of action in comparison to the other.

Furthermore, China is attempting to dominate Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific through its BRI to establish a Sino-centric global economic order. It has also been a driving force for the establishment of alternative development financing organizations like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) – BRICS is the acronym coined to associate five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These are considered attempts to counterbalance the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which are dominated by the U.S.

The BRI connects China with Asia and Europe via land routes while also connecting neighboring marine channels across the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean. The Silk Road Fund (SRF), the AIIB and the NDB are the main sources of finance for the BRI, with the Chinese government and private investors being the key providers of funding. China's BRI investment has been accepted by 152 countries and international organizations. It is a long-term transcontinental and transitional megaproject for China and its allies, but it has been viewed as geopolitical and economic colonialism by countries such as the U.S. Washington's influence as a major economy and supplier is dwindling with each passing day.

According to American evaluations, there are several reservations about the BRI's economic viability as well as its ramifications for the international order and American interests. American analysts see BRI as completely mercantile, while others see it as a strategic ploy aimed at building Chinese hegemony or perhaps creating the groundwork for a "Sino-centric" world system. Others believe that the BRI has the potential to reestablish Eurasia as the world's largest economic market and achieve a transition away from the dollar-based world financial system. Thus, according to American critics, the economic reason for the BRI is primarily in line with the Chinese government's declared goals as defined in the "visions and actions" paper. American reviews begin by claiming that China intends to exploit the BRI to export its excess capacity in building materials, engineering services and possibly even manpower.

The project's strategic roles

Significantly, the BRI has several strategic and economic objectives. One option is to use infrastructure to project and strengthen regional influence. China has proved its ability to build infrastructure on a large scale. Infrastructure megaprojects make powerful visual statements that help to support a discourse of economic progress. Moreover, as part of the effort to combat climate change, such a focus can also help address global infrastructure needs and the need for sustainable infrastructure.

The BRI is also a key component of Chinese trade and investment initiatives aimed at advancing economic cooperation and increasing reliance on China. Infrastructure built under the BRI will improve trade linkages within China and across Asia. Whatever the conclusion of the BRI, it is already having an impact on the developing perceptions in Asia about China's and the U.S.' relative responsibilities.

Notably, by solving infrastructural bottlenecks, enhancing trade flows and spurring economic growth, the BRI creates opportunities for win-win results for U.S. enterprises. The U.S. administration has been unable to articulate an Asian trade and investment plan that is comparable to China's BRI ambitions.

Hence, the rivalry between the U.S. and China has become a paradigm of world politics in the last few years. It has an impact on both strategic discussions and actual political, military and economic dynamics. The rapid escalation of the U.S.-China conflict, combined with the bipartisan nature of U.S. opposition to China, has placed the region in grave danger. China is perceived as being more assertive, embracing greater risks, and willing to alienate key powers such as the U.S. as it continues on its road to becoming the world's largest economy.