The initial ambition of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sounded almost whimsical.
China's billion-dollar Belt and Road project is one of President Xi Jinping's signature policies aimed at increasing Chinese influence.
It has also expanded to include a ‘Digital Silk Road’ which has primarily involved the Chinese firm Huawei winning 5G contracts in at least 70 countries. The ECRL has become Malaysia's most expensive infrastructure project ever and the bill is being paid via a loan from China's government.We travelled to Malaysia which will soon join the growing train club, with a 400-mile long East Coast Rail Line which will link its underdeveloped east with the capital in the west.
'The project is not financially viable': Lawyer Kai Ping tells ITV News Asia Correspondent Debi Edward that he thinks future generations will be saddled with debt due to the project With lorries noisily trundling past and diggers operating all day, their environment has been sadly disturbed.Rizali Awang was given just 30 days to leave his home.He and his neighbours have received eviction notices, giving them thirty days to move out of an area which will soon become an access road for one section of the new train line.
In several developing nations, including Malaysia, these opaque deals have become mired in local corruption and led to accusations of debt diplomacy.Belt and Road projects are paid for by loans from China. In Kenya the government had to get an international bailout to help repay its multi-million-pound loans, and the success of its Chinese built train line remains in question.
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