This paper outlines a framing for how the BRI could be understood that emerged from these two sessions. The MoU is a general non-binding document that commits Victoria to no specific project. The Framework Agreement on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreed between the Victorian Government and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China in October 2019 builds on the existing BRI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in October 2018. And the Victorian political leadership’s championing of the state’s tie-up with Beijing on infrastructure is a glaring wedge that Beijing is driving into Australia—at a time when national cohesion on dealing with the Chinese state is essential. Paper. While the future of Victoria’s Belt and Road projects might seem uncertain, Australia has far more reasons to keep to its agreements than to turn away from them, Jon (Yuan) Jiang writes. This article was one of the most read in Australian Outlook in 2020. It commits China and Victoria to adhere to ‘the concept of openness, green and clean governance’ as well as ‘highlighting the importance of procedure [which is] open, transparent and non-discriminatory’. It’s laced with digital technology controlling its critical functions. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), known in Chinese and formerly in English as One Belt One Road (Chinese: 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations. Protesters against China’s Belt and Road Initiative gather in front of the Parliament House of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on June 7, 2020. By Michael Fowler and Anthony Galloway. With the Belt and Road Initiative, Daniel Andrews has hung an albatross around the neck of his own and any future government of Victoria. This article was one of the most read in Australian Outlook in 2020. Authors. Who now thinks it’s the time to enter non-public arrangements with Chinese firms—state-owned or otherwise—to build Australian infrastructure? Overview. How coronavirus has affected China’s Belt and Road plans China says one fifth of the projects under its Belt and Road initiative have been ‘seriously affected’ by the pandemic. To have any meaning, that national cohesion must extend to any deals contemplated by individual states and territories. Victoria has signed a fresh deal with the Chinese government and its global Belt and Road infrastructure project with Premier Daniel Andrews urging other Australian governments to follow suit. The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited new debate on China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Against the official position of the Australian federal government, the state of Victoria has recently signed on. The Victorian government’s BRI activities are simply out of step with the new international and economic environment, including the now openly coercive directions that Beijing is taking with Canberra over trade and in government relations. AEPF (Asia Europe People's Forum) Programmes. Something that frequently heats up the minds and ignites political debates are governmental-level bilateral signed BRI-MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding), which not only promise cooperation within the framework of BRI, but also substantiate the legitimacy of the initiative. This is needed to help us navigate the increasingly sharp strategic differences between Australia and the Chinese state, while keeping the areas in which we can continue to trade and cooperate to both our national advantages. That document was made public, which is great, because it has some clear principles. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) An AEPF Framing Paper . The Strategist — The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Blog. However, signing an MoU is no big deal. The release of Victoria's Memorandum of Understanding with Beijing over the controversial One Belt One Road initiative has received strong reaction from the Coalition. Save. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says his state’s proposed deal with China will bring much needed jobs and new infrastructure to the state. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): An AEPF Framing Paper, China's Belt & Road Initiative: A Cautionary Tale for the Kachins. This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. Michael Shoebridge is director of the defence, strategy and national security program at ASPI. The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited new debate on China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The passage of the Foreign Relations Bill has given Canberra the power to scrap Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deal. Map showing key cities and ports in the Belt and Road Initiative. Victoria takes wrong track with China’s Belt and Road Initiative Anthony bergin Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews signed an agreement with China’s National Development and … Unfortunately, the treasurer’s words sounded like talking points from Beijing’s foreign ministry or an article in the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times mouthpiece. Premier Daniel Andrews must cancel the Victorian Government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreements with China. Published at. Unlike the excuses we heard after the disastrously managed 2015 Port of Darwin deal, which led to that piece of key infrastructure being leased to a Chinese company for 99 years, we have our eyes wide open about the issues involved this time. 19 Jun 2020 The Victoria state government’s decision to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China on the Belt and Road Initiative has alarmed some. Victoria made a deal with China under the country's Belt and Road Initiative, a scheme that sees the country invest in huge infrastructure projects around the world, in October 2018. Despite some scepticism from government ministers, talks about New Zealand's role in China's Belt and Road Initiative are forging ahead. Infrastructure isn’t just concrete and steel now. There are two bigger problems here, though. Those issues are relevant here too. If it’s about giving Chinese firms work, there are plenty of Australian companies that are at least as qualified and available to undertake infrastructure projects. This paper outlines a framing for how to understand the Belt and Road Initiative. Officially known as ‘One Belt, One Road’, China’s key foreign policy and economic strategy is more commonly referred to as the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI). Against the official position of the Australian federal government, the state of Victoria has recently signed on. The Belt and Road Initiative aims to become a transnational network to facilitate trade and investment and promote common development among all countries involved. Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, told a parliamentary inquiry this month that the state would “absolutely not” reconsider its belt and road agreement, and accused the federal government of “vilifying” China over its push for an international inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, social movements, affected communities and non-governmental organisations across the globe have criticized BRI projects for harmful environmental, social and economic impacts, and resisted their implementation. Then in October last year, Andrews signed a ‘framework agreement’ with the People’s Republic of China on ‘Jointly Promoting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road’. What Victoria is proposing has foreign policy and national security implications that the Victorian government is simply unequipped to assess. The moves follow a memorandum of understanding being signed between China and Victoria just over a year ago, linking both parties together as part of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. Australia’s relationship with China remains vitally important in facilitating its economic recovery in a post COVID-19 world and determining what the roadmap will entail. The agreements talk about cooperation on biotechnology and life sciences, research and high-end manufacturing—all areas that also have important national security applications and implications. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), first proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is an ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a trans-continental scale. The term derives from the overland ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘21st-Century Maritime Silk Road’, concepts introduced by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013. He refused to make the agreement public, only doing so after intense pressure during the last Victorian election campaign. Image: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images. Victoria’s tender process must not be used to hinder transparency with the proposed deal. The Chinese are weaponising federalism by driving a political wedge between the federal and state positions on the Belt and Road Initiative. Victoria signs up to the BRI: what didn’t they know and when didn’t they know it? Victoria's Belt and Road deal could go within months as federal bill passes. And who now thinks it’s the right time to show that the federal and state levels of government are on divergent paths in responding to an assertive and authoritarian Beijing? In March 2015, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov asserted that "Russia should not view the Silk Road Economic Belt as a threat to its traditional, regional sphere of influence […] but as an opportunity for the Eurasian Economic Union". That was then. Beijing is watching, and Canberra is thinking. In very calm language. The 2018 federal decision on 5G was all about the risks in digital technology from states like China that compel companies to cooperate for state security and intelligence purposes. Since 2013, Australia has been at pains to adopt a cautious approach towards the Belt and Road Initiative … The Andrews government is seeking legal advice on proposed new federal laws which could tear up its controversial Belt and Road agreement with China. Will Morrison act on his long-felt and justifiable wish now to ensure a consistent national foreign policy? At the same time, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to ensure all parties gain real benefits. The controversial Belt and Road Initiative has been in the news over the past seven days, but what exactly is it and how does it affect Australia? Victoria made a deal with China under the country's Belt and Road Initiative, a scheme that sees the communist superpower invest in huge infrastructure projects around … Belt and Road Initiative: Deal Daniel Andrews can’t back out of. Victoria's new deal with Beijing has angered some in ... Andrews has signed a new deal with the Chinese Government to deepen the state's engagement with the controversial Belt and Road initiative. 27 January 2021. Who now thinks it’s the time to implement Xi’s strategic agenda and work to make Australia part of a more China-centred world? The Belt and Road Initiative has no formal institutionalized body and its implementation includes multiple actors and stakeholders. And we have time to stop and think. If the national cabinet has any purposes other than helping us all manage the Covid-19 pandemic, a fundamental one must be forging a cohesive and united national policy on China. This paper outlines a framing for how to understand the Belt and Road Initiative. For more than 40 years, TNI has served as a unique nexus between social movements, engaged scholars and policy makers. The critics do not understand the nature and content of the MoU, nor do they understand the BRI. The federal government institutions that understand foreign policy, national security and digital technology must be involved actively and comprehensively in that reassessment. Victoria has little to show for signing up to China's Belt and Road Initiative and keeping the MOU sends the wrong signal. So, it’s surprising to find that as the Victorian government prepares to sign up Chinese entities—perhaps banks, perhaps state-owned or private construction companies, perhaps a combination of these—for actual projects in Victoria, no one can be told any of the details. Right at the start, the Victorians said they had consulted at the federal level with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but Canberra seemed only partly aware of the proposal and expressed what sounded like lukewarm public support. It needs to be halted and comprehensively reassessed. The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable planet. In 2018 at AEPF12 in Ghent, Belgium, the AEPF began analysing the BRI and sharing experiences relating to the BRI, continuing with a workshop in Amsterdam in June 2019. These countries are listed as “null” in the following map of countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited new debate on China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To date, more than 130 countries have issued endorsements. The release of Victoria's Memorandum of Understanding with Beijing over the controversial One Belt One Road initiative has received strong reaction from the Coalition. Premier Daniel Andrews has been personally pursuing Chinese involvement in Victoria’s multibillion-dollar ‘Big Build’ since at least his May 2018 visit to China. The result is that we appear headed for an outcome in Victoria where Chinese firms are involved in building chunks of national infrastructure, perhaps with tie-ups to Chinese state banks and other entities—who knows. There’s more to the Victorian BRI deal than infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited new debate on China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The title is boilerplate Chinese government language for the BRI, Xi Jinping’s strategy for growing Chinese power and creating a Sino-centred world. Copyright © 2021, Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal undermines cohesive national China policy, The Chinese state and Australia’s economy: ‘snapping back’ must not mean business as usual, Beijing drives a Belt and Road between Melbourne and Canberra. 29 October 2019. The Victorian government’s Belt and Road Initiative program is a zombie project that has its own inertia and is proceeding despite the world changing around it. It needs to be halted and comprehensively reassessed. Let’s do so. If it’s about cheap financing, the Covid-19 environment means money is as cheap for governments to borrow as it has ever been, so that reason doesn’t make much sense. But Covid … Stephanie Olinga-Shannon, Mads Barbesgaard, Pietje Vervest. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is often subject of controversial debates. This is not a standard arrangement between a government and the private sector. The overseeing body of BRI is the “Office of the Leading Group on Promoting the Implementation of Belt and Road Initiatives” which is under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). 22 May 2020 | Michael Shoebridge. The core rationale for a state government being a party to this initiative of Beijing’s also needs to be rethought in light of the world we are now living in. Almost as bad has been the language used by Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, who accused the federal government of ‘vilifying’ China—when what Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne had actually done and said was call for a credible, independent, international inquiry into the causes of a global pandemic. Again, this must all be reassessed from a national perspective. President Xi Jinping has described the BRI as the ‘Project of the Century’, yet the motivations, aims and scope of the BRI have been continuously debated and the Chinese Government has struggled to put forward a clear narrative for the initiative. Victoria made a deal with China under the country's Belt and Road Initiative, a scheme that sees the communist superpower invest in huge infrastructure projects around the world, in October 2018. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from Daniel Andrews’ recent announcement that Victoria has struck a new deal with China under its BRI. Two facts become clear when observing the increasing criticism of Victoria’s memorandum of understanding with China over the Belt and Road Initiative. The Victorian government’s Belt and Road Initiative program is a zombie project that has its own inertia and is proceeding despite the world changing around it. The BRI is a foreign policy and economic strategy of the People’s Republic of China, designed to grow its power and influence across the globe. It is hoped that this framing paper will guide future AEPF work in relation to the BRI. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is the wrong road for Victoria. Map of the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): As of January 2021, 133 to 140 countries had joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by signing an MoU (Source: www.green-bri.org). So what? This is an Australian state dealing with an authoritarian superpower that is pursuing its key strategic agenda—and using its companies, banks and technologies to do so. In October of that year, he signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative in a memorandum of understanding with Beijing. Protesters against China’s Belt and Road Initiative gather in front of the Parliament House of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on June 7, 2020. Jonathan Hillman Nov 20, 2020 – 12.00am Getty Images While the deal may benefit Victoria's economy, Mr Jennings urged the state government to rethink the agreement. December 8, 2020 — 3.13pm. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been around for the better part of a decade but the world isn’t any closer to understanding what it actually is. Since the launch of the BRI in 2013, 136 countries and 30 international organizations have signed BRI cooperation documents, received US$90 billion in Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and exchanged US$6 trillion in trade with China. Strategic implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative too big to ignore, Understanding the BRI in Africa and the Middle East. Moscow has been an early partner of China, and Russia and China now have altogether 150 common projects including natural gas pipelines and the Polar Silk Road. Getty Images While the deal may benefit Victoria's economy, Mr Jennings urged the state government to rethink the agreement. They have since gained the support of more than 120 nations. Australia’s relationship with China remains vitally important in facilitating its economic recovery in a post COVID-19 world and determining what the roadmap will entail. Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal undermines cohesive national China policy. If it’s about using Chinese digital technology in our infrastructure, that’s probably just a bad idea. Map showing key cities and ports in the Belt and Road Initiative. From the beginning, the BRI program with Victoria appears to have fallen into gaps between the federal and state governments.
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