Economic Dominance In A ‘Global’ World: China’s Belt And Road Initiative
- IJLLR Journal
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
Yashika Saraf, O.P. Jindal Global University
ABSTRACT
This paper contends that China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) challenges the neutrality of the "global" order by using economic tools and international law to convert economic power into structural dominance. As demonstrated by instances like Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port, China legally enforces long- term dependencies through bilateral investment treaties, the pacta sunt servanda principle, and organisations like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The BRI demonstrates how international law can be weaponised to reshape global hierarchies under the pretence of cooperation and development, even though recipient states may develop counter- strategies like transparent bidding and creditor diversification.
INTRODUCTION
The modern international order, often described as a ‘rules-based system,’ suggests impartiality, justice, and an even playing field for all governments pitting it directly against the realities of the world; the widespread disparities in income, security, and power that exist. A select few countries dominate this international order as manifested through the four key indicators of power; military supremacy, ideological hegemony, and cohesive governance and economic primacy. The idea of a global world which has at its heart a planetary scale and intimate interconnectedness, facilitates this domination. This essay seeks to highlight that international law is not a passive mirror of power but rather a fundamental framework that actively creates and maintains global hierarchy by looking at particular legal systems, the strategy at play with respect to the Belt and Road Initiative of China to dominate largely as an economic power . According to Simon Dalby, the duality of ‘global’ lies in providing a universalising framework of laws, essentially free trade and market access for all, that simultaneously facilitates and conceals the projection of specific authority. This is powerfully embodied in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which employs the employs the universal language of global development while advancing a vision of Sino-centric economic order.
