Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a revival of the ancient Chinese Silk Road. It is China’s “unofficial” grand strategy since President Xi Jinping announced it in 2013, economically connecting China to all parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. While its geopolitical intentions are not the purest, the BRI brings win-win economic benefits to both China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a rapidly growing region. While China expands into new markets, some ASEAN countries are relieved of their economic hardship. The U.S.-China trade war, a development since 2018, presents a grave challenge to ASEAN. It will either make or break ASEAN, creating deeper divisions on top of the already unstable regional bonds.