“Schematically, we can distinguish two major directions of research, which are not necessarily exclusive,” the researcher explains. Much research is underway in the social sciences to foresee these developments, their underlying motivations and their consequences. “More often than not, they link northern and southern Asia, or Japan to the continent, for example.” Bilateral economic and geopolitical relations “Some go through Southeast Asia,” Esposito points out. The idea is to emphasize that multiple transportation routes are being developed. In fact, the original designation “One Belt One Road” was abandoned in 2017, replaced by the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). “It was actually a vast transportation network that developed over several centuries, and that we more or less associate with this mental image.” Similarly, the modern-day Chinese project does not correspond to a specific route. “We mustn’t think of it as a well-delineated road across the land,” Esposito adds. 1 “Investigations in the field had led him to understand that a network of trade routes linked Asia to Europe.” Silk was one of the key products of this network, but there were also spices, other fabrics and materials, etc. However, “the expression ‘Silk Road’ was coined in late 19th century by the German geographer Ferdinand Von Richthofen,” notes Adèle Esposito, a CNRS researcher at the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC). This reference conjures up the image of a country faithful to its past and at the same time looking to the future, ever dynamic and eternally prosperous. He also describes it as being modelled on the traditional “Silk Road”, a historical trade network whose origins are lost in antiquity. Since its inception, President Xi Jinping has made this programme a symbol of his country’s modernity and international development. The new infrastructures, including ports, roads, and railways, are intended to stretch from eastern China to the Atlantic coast of Europe. In the autumn of 2013, the president of the People's Republic of China unveiled a massive, multifaceted construction project aimed at connecting the Eastern and Western worlds.
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