Voice for CHOICE #8: Assessing the BRI’s Inroads to the Western Balkans with Jon Hillman

As Serbia continues to pursue a multi-vector strategy that heavily relies upon China and China itself further highlights cooperation in the Balkans not only on vaccines, but in infrastructure investment along the Belt and Road, as it did in the most recent 17+1 summit, curious eyes are increasingly drawn to China’s activities in the region. However, the cooperation across the broader Western Balkan region has not been without issues, especially as activists complain of environmental damage along China’s flagship project in the Balkans and governments, like that of Montenegro, fall into insurmountable debt to China’s Exim Bank.

To assess the level of threat that each of China’s projects across the Western Balkans pose, CSIS senior fellow Jonathan Hillman and his colleagues devised a flag system by which each project can be judged and the major indicators that onlookers should be wary of when judging each project.

To hear the results of the study and the prospects for China’s continued cooperation with Western Balkan nations, make the right choice and tune in!

This month’s show features analysis from:

• Jonathan E. Hillman, Senior Fellow, Economics Program, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Show Notes 

• Red Flags: Triaging China’s Projects in the Western Balkans
• Serbia Turns Multi-Vector Foreign Policy into Development Model… With China’s Help
• China’s Push to Control Pacific Cable Subsea Cables
• Empty Shell No More, CHOICE’s groundbreaking paper on 17+1
• Full text of Xi Jinping’s 17+1 Keynote Speech

This podcast is hosted by Kevin Curran