One Belt, One Road vision could turn into a nightmare for China
China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has many attractions for the country such as dealing with its massive overcapacity in steel and cement and increasing its geopolitical influence. The project is also popular with "strong man" leaders such as President Putin and President Erdogan, although there is scepticism in Europe, especially about contract standards and transparency. However, there are also challenges such as how China will deal with ethnic and political violence and terrorism in many of the BRI participating nations. China also has limited leverage over loan repayments to it in relation to BRI investment in these countries.

When Beijing announced its ambitious plan in 2013 to develop infrastructure connecting Asia and Europe, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, the strategic and economic logic seemed overwhelming.

With decades of experience in building large and complex infrastructure projects at home, China had accumulated world-class engineering and construction capabilities. Beijing's coffers were also overflowing with foreign exchange reserves (more than $3.2 trillion at the end of 2012). Instead of parking this mountain of cash in low-yielding U.S. treasury bonds (and subsidizing ungrateful Americans), China could invest some of it in more profitable projects, such as power plants, toll roads and ports.