AMID unsavoury news that many major projects linked to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been fraught with political and debt issues, few would have expected European countries to embrace this ambitious trade and infrastructure plan of China.
Despite the negative reports on BRI projects in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Ethiopia, as well as warnings from the United States that China is using this grand plan to debt-trap poor nations to expand its reach and influence, the BRI is making unimpeded headway.