China's vision is at odds with the hopes that opened this century for a world of free markets and open borders, and it animates many of China's latest mega-projects. A new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China's remote Xinjiang province has already siphoned off 50 billion of the country's 80 billion cubic meters of gas. China is helping secure its access to strategic ports in Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The key to the new Chinese empire is not occupying turf but seeking reliable transport networks that aren't easily disrupted by powerful potential rivals, such as the U.S., Russia, or even India. Beijing's heavy involvement in developing infrastructure at Pakistan's port of Gwadar, for example, is linked to the fact that Gwadar is the downstream hub for pipelines linking Central Asia to China. In short, the new Silk Road is aimed at building a whole new world of infrastructure links that diminish Chinese reliance on traditional trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz (turf of the U.S. Fifth Fleet) and the Strait of Malacca (stamping ground of the U.S. Seventh Fleet). "If [those waterways] were to become blockaded, it would be a big problem for Chinese sea transport," says foreign-policy analyst Gao Heng of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who believes authorities are very concerned about bottlenecks to energy imports. High-speed rail is part one of a backup plan to ensure energy security.
The key to the new Chinese empire is not occupying turf but seeking reliable transport networks that aren't easily disrupted by powerful potential rivals, such as the U.S., Russia, or even India. Beijing's heavy involvement in developing infrastructure at Pakistan's port of Gwadar, for example, is linked to the fact that Gwadar is the downstream hub for pipelines linking Central Asia to China. In short, the new Silk Road is aimed at building a whole new world of infrastructure links that diminish Chinese reliance on traditional trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz (turf of the U.S. Fifth Fleet) and the Strait of Malacca (stamping ground of the U.S. Seventh Fleet). "If [those waterways] were to become blockaded, it would be a big problem for Chinese sea transport," says foreign-policy analyst Gao Heng of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who believes authorities are very concerned about bottlenecks to energy imports. High-speed rail is part one of a backup plan to ensure energy security.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/237306 
