Gravitas: Philippines to exit China's Belt & Road Initiative | An embarrassment for Xi? | | Gravitas

Chinese president shiin Ping's dream project the belt and Road initiative has suffered yet another blow the Philippines has decided to exit it and it is the second country to do that this year by the way before the Philippines it was Italy the only G7 member of China's biggest International project why are countries pulling out a decade into the project can they now see through China's debt trap diplomacy is this the beginning of the end of B it is a huge embarrassment for president xiin ping you see brri is his brainchild it was supposed to be the highway to Chinese Supremacy but that Highway seems to be filled with roadblocks the Philippines Department of Transportation has announced the full termination of several major infrastructure projects partnered with China and this includes Railway connecting columia to ball Province it was worth $2.5 billion another one is a 100 km Commuter Rail Line in the southern Philippines it was worth $11.45 billion the third and more symbolic was a freight Railway connecting uh the uh Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Clark Freeport Zone these are two of the nerve centers of the US military power in the Asia Pacific and this one was slated to cost close to $900 million but it will no longer receive China's money because the Philippines plans to pull out the Philippine Transportation secretary claimed that China has lost interest and that the country cannot sit around and wait for funding forever the interesting part is the Philippines snub comes after a skirmish in the South China Sea last month there were two collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed sea China's Coast Guard collided with a Philippine resupply board and in a separate incident a Philippine Coast Guard vessel was bumped by a Chinese military vessel the Philippines however saying that that it has nothing to do this has nothing to do with its exit from the brri reports say the Philippines was not satisfied with the progress of the partnered projects it is seeking investment from Japan and the West when Italy hinted it was going to pull out it cited similar concerns and back in July ital's defense minister called the BR Wicked that is the word that he used he said the decision to join the project was an improvised act that led to a double negative result and this is bringing a great deal of embarrassment to China to say the least the ambitious infrastructure project just completed 10 years only last month there was a lot of chest humping Beijing invited leaders and delegates from over 140 Nations to celebrate br's decad long journey all this for what the BR has been failing to deliver what it actually promised and this has been happening for some time now some poor Nations stand neede deep in debt in others the projects have failed to yield the expected Returns the unkempt promises have added up and the results are in front of you countries now want to opt out they want nothing to do with the brri and this comes at a time when President xiin Ping's leadership is under question when shiin Ping's unprecedented third term began he stacked the top leadership with loyalists she's handpicked Elite was supposed to pave the path for his Grand Vision for China but months on there is turbulence in China's top ranks and we still don't know where the outed defense minister Lee Shang Fu and foreign minister are the downfall of she's own loyalists is reflecting badly on him that aside there are major economic troubles there in the country it is plagued by a real estate crisis high unemployment and dwindling confidence among the investors and on the world stage China's competition with the West is only increasing it seems like shiin Bing's policies are not working out neither at home nor outside and there are questions around his judgment are dampening International confidence in his governance two Nations have dumped China's most Visionary project and it is bound to leave president Xi Jinping red-faced we are now aail of able in your country download the app now get all the updates on the move

Channel: WION

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Keywords: Phillipines exit from china belt, china belt and road, belt and road initiative, belt and road, china news, china bri, china belt and road news, china belt and road initiative, china belt and road africa, china belt and road failure, china one belt one road, china belt and road intiative, belt and road china, belt and road intiative china, china belt and road initiative documentary, belt and road initiative explained, china sea

Id: jXKtZ7g45cw

Length: 4min 36sec (276 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 06 2023