Posted on 05/12/2017 6:42:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
BEIJING — China is aiming to re-create Marco Polo's ancient "Silk Road" that connected Europe to Asia.
But instead of the camels and caravans that transported spices and silk hundreds of years ago, a $1.4 trillion network of modern trading routes would be built.
On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will host 28 heads of state at the opening of a two-day summit focusing on the so-called "Belt and Road" initiative.
Analysts suggest the project could shift the center of global economy and challenge the U.S.-led world order.
Beijing hopes the gathering will rally international support for the plan.
Xi's colossal program is 11 times the size of the U.S. Marshall Plan, which reconstructed Europe after World War II.
It envisions new roads, high-speed rail, power plants, pipelines, ports and airports and telecommunications links that would boost commerce between China and 60 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Among Xi's guests will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of Turkey, Italy, Pakistan and the Philippines. A minister from reclusive North Korea will also attend.
The U.S. delegation is led by Matt Pottinger, a special assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for East Asia on the National Security Council. His visit to observe the summit was only announced Friday. And surrounded by heads of state, Pottinger's relatively low position raises questions about how seriously the Trump administration is taking the project.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
To transport the army described in Revelation perhaps?
No doubt lined with Trump hotels and resorts along the way.
That’ll be great, except the routes go through some of the most politically unstable regions in the world.
My first thought was war too.
I’m sure China will make the roads wide enough to accommodate tanks.
They probably weren't exactly stable during its first incarnation either though ...
I’m sure China will make the roads wide enough to accommodate tanks.
Ya I seem to remember how well those tank roads worked in Kuwait!
A bargain for them. And of course they can build infrastructure much more cheaply than we can.
silk road bookmark
Watch George Webb’s daily reporting on YouTube for the modern-day updates on these ratlines, used for everything from drug movement to human slavery, enabled by Hillary’Hackers, the Awan brothers, and their protector at the FBI, Andrew McCabe.
First thing that came to mind!
Huge thanks for posting this and the maps.
The Silk Road existed and disappeared. Let us recreate route 66
Former U.S. Assistant Defense Secretary Chas Freeman described the Belt and Road project as "potentially the most transformative engineering effort in human history."
All seven Republican members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence signed a letter raising "concerns about Mr. Freeman's lack of experience and uncertainty about his objectivity".[9][28] Eighty-seven Chinese dissidents wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to reconsider the appointment.[29] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was said to be "incensed" by Freeman's alleged views of the Tiananmen Square massacre, reportedly urged President Obama against the selection.[30] Freeman responded that his Tiananmen Square remarks were taken out of context since they had represented "his assessment of how Chinese leaders had seen things".[9]
This is going to be just like the Bering Straits bridge.
Note: Columbus was looking for a route to China and India that avoided the Muslim areas. The Muslims taxed trade at each point along the Silk Route, to the point that goods coming from China and India were very expensive, and in some cases shut off completely.
In 1453, just a few years prior to Columbus sailing West, the Ottoman Empire had conquered Constantinople (Eastern Roman Empire), and changed its name to Istanbul.
People forget that the Mediterranean was once dominated by the Ottoman Empire. According to Robert Davis in “Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800”, from the 16th to 19th centuries, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves.
So, what would bring a large Chinese army into the Middle East? Which Muslim nation(s) does China support? Which Muslim nation(s) demand Israel cease to exist?
It seems G_d has everything under control and has let us know in His Word what the outcome will be.
Exactly what I was thinking. How they going to provide security along that route? I bet it ends up costing a lot more than $1 trillion to build too. Somehow I just get a whiff of crude oil in this intention. China is after everybody's oil. Maybe this is plan B if they back away from the S. China Sea.
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