Thu November, 2020, Age: 3 years
James Guild argues that the railway projects being built under China’s Belt and Road Initiative offer marginal economic benefits at exorbitant costs. Although the BRI has been difficult to define, there is merit to the strategic logic of underwriting infrastructure development projects in fast-growing or geographically important countries. But sometimes geostrategic goals can outpace practical considerations. Although a good idea in theory, many of China’s high-speed railway projects across Southeast Asia have become expensive boondoggles.