China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs): Geo-economic and political implications for China–PICs relations

The rise of China is one of the most important events in international relations, which has altered, and will most likely continue to change the global geoeconomic and geo-political landscape. The book examines China’s “Belt and Road” initiative (BRI) in the Pacific Island countries as well as their partnerships in the context of China’s rise and China-America geopolitical competition. The book argues that the BRI in the South Pacific region is not merely an economic initiative, but one with a combination of economic, political and strategic objectives and consequences. The BRI in the region is, first and foremost, aimed to sustain China’s economic growth by gaining entry to the region’s resources and particularly the region’s marine resources, and by enhancing economic and infrastructural collaboration with its partners in the region. Sustained economic growth has long been identified by Deng Xiaoping as the basis underpinning China’s “overall” (“hard” and “soft”) power and China’s rise. The BRI is secondly aimed to intensify China’s partnership with the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) by changing the geoeconomic and geopolitical landscape through the implementation of BRI. China wishes to display to its partners in the region that its peaceful rise shall not be misconstrued as a threat, but an opportunity for economic prosperity both for China and for its economic partners across the world. The book concludes that China is increasingly able to reap economic and geopolitical interest in the South Pacific by intensifying “connectivity” and “exchanges of people” between China and the PICs through the BRI.