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East Asia Forum
Trends
- 1China's Belt and Road cuts both ways for authoritarian rule●China’s BRI cuts both ways for authoritarian rule
A new analysis from East Asia Forum argues that China's Belt and Road Initiative has a double-edged effect on authoritarian governments abroad. Chinese investment and infrastructure lending can strengthen autocratic rulers by delivering growth and patronage, but debt burdens and local discontent can also destabilise them, the piece contends, complicating claims that Beijing simply props up fellow authoritarian regimes.