The Rise of China’s Past in the “Belt and Road Initiative” (from Historical Perspectives)

Abstract

For deeply understanding today’s China, it is important to understand how China’s past engaged into the present. What is important is that China has key factors for her long-lived existence that ensure the adaptation of China. It also confirms China’s single path in comparison with the development paths of the Western. Interestingly, it is a personal decision, but that person exploits history or is inspired by historical interests. In other words, that person is the supreme manifestation of the historical rules bearing bold Chinese characters.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is now probably the most important decision in China’s international policies. It is a sprawling project that is intended to significantly enhance China’s connectivity to the world but in particular to its western region. In this paper, we try to prove that the decision to launch the BRI serves the present and the future plan of China. However, this initiative took its origin, momentum, and motivation as well as the obsession from the historic roots and grand ambitions of the past generations. That means the domination and participation of the past in its establishment is a unique feature of the BRI. The dominance of the past to the present establishment of the BRI comes from every aspects: from the key persons who initiated the idea of the Belt and Road (B&R), its name, its formulation rules in China’s history, as well as its goals and roles. The crucial point of the rise of the past in the BRI is considered as a landmark and reflects the long-term development rules in the history of China.

This research was funded by the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under the project number 506.01-2016.01.