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hina calls its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) an open and inclusive process rather than an “exclusive club”, saying any country with goodwill and capability is welcome to participate.

In the last five years, there had been questions, misunderstandings and even accusations of the BRI, said Jiang Qin, Chargé d’Affaires at the Chinese Mission to ASEAN.

“Some wonder, what will BRI bring to the regional countries? Some may be concerned that BRI is China’s geopolitical tool to expand its own interests and influence. Some may doubt whether China will allow third parties to participate and benefit,” she said in a prepared speech at a dinner reception to celebrate the 2018 Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Monday evening in Jakarta.

Jiang said in fact, many ASEAN dialogue partners had already been part of it.

“In some projects, we can find multiparty cooperation among China, ASEAN countries and other dialogue partners. China has signed documents on third-party market cooperation with countries like Singapore, Canada, Japan, France, as well as international organizations,” she said.

BRI is an initiative of equality, openness and transparency, she said, ensuring that enterprise-oriented market operations, market laws and “well-accepted international rules” were in place.

“No economy has been dragged into a debt crisis because of its cooperation with China. The governments and peoples of our partners have the most say in judging how their cooperation with China is going,” she said.

In August, the United States Department of Defense released its annual report to Congress on Chinese military power, which mentioned that the BRI had militarily relevant dimensions.

The report said the initiative was “intended to develop strong economic ties with other countries, shape their interests to align with China’s and deter confrontation or criticism of China’s approach to sensitive issues”.

In a special section dedicated to the BRI, the US report said: “Some BRI investments could create potential military advantages for China, should China require access to selected foreign ports to pre-position the necessary logistics support to sustain naval deployments in waters as distant as the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to protect its growing interests.”

China’s trade with ASEAN countries has reached US$5 trillion with outward direct investment exceeding $60 billion, which created over 200,000 local jobs, Jiang said.

Among the many projects China has with ASEAN countries includes the China-Laos Railway, the China-Thailand Railway and the Brunei PMB Petrochemical Project, as well as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the new Chroy Changvar Bridge in Phnom Penh.

Jiang also mentioned the Suramadu Bridge in East Java, which connects the provincial capital of Surabaya with the nearby Madura Island. Opened in 2009, the bridge predates BRI but was built by a consortium of two Indonesian and two Chinese firms.

The bridge’s construction started in 2003 with a budget of some Rp 4.5 trillion (US$302.7 million), of which 45 percent was financed by China. (dis)