Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative is an ambitious one that can significantly transform the economic and geopolitical landscape of Eurasia in the coming decades.

China is expected to fund a significant proportion of the infrastructure and industrial investments in the countries involved. South-east Asia is a key region for the implementation of BRI, and almost all the countries in the region have welcomed the proposal.

But a recent three-month field research trip in which I spoke with government officials, scholars, activists and media professionals in the region suggests that some countries remain wary of co-operating with China under the scheme.

Their reservations are partly due to concerns that have emerged in the socio-cultural interactions between China and regional countries over past decades.

… Gong Xue is a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

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