The Silk Road is part of China\u2019s ‘One Belt, One Road,’ an economic development strategy launched by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013.<\/p>\n
By Bamzi Banchiri
February 16, 2016 5:00 PM<\/p>\n
The first cargo train from China to Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday, marking a milestone in reviving the ancient Silk Road trade route.<\/p>\n
The Silk Road \u2013 envisioned as a rail and sea route \u2013 is part of China\u2019s \u201cOne Belt, One Road,\u201d an economic development strategy, which has opened a new chapter of win-win cooperation between China and Iran, Xinhua reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cCountries along the Silk Road are striving to revive the ancient network of trade routes,\u201d said Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways company,according to the Guardian.<\/a> \u201cThe arrival in Tehran of the train in less than a fortnight has been an unprecedented achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n “To revive the Silk Road Economic Belt, the launch of the train is an important move, since about 700 kms of trip has been done per day,” he added.<\/p>\n The train will leave every month and the frequency will be increased if necessary, Iranian officials said.<\/p>\n The train arrived a few weeks after Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Iran, becoming the first global leader to do so since economic sanctions were lifted.<\/p>\n The $40 billion “One Belt, One Road” initiative \u2013 or simply the “Belt and Road” \u2013 is an initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. The project seeks to promote \u201ccommon development, connectivity and co-operation, and it consists of two main components: the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), which focuses on linking China with Europe through Central and Western Asia; and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which is designed to connect China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa, and Europe,\u201d according to Euroasia Industry.<\/a><\/p>\n Amid criticism that its multi-billion dollar Silk Road initiative to revive ancient trade routes is a “geopolitical tool” aimed at extending influence, Beijing responded by dismissing the claims. The New York Times had written an article saying that Beijing’s push to revive the ancient trade routes is causing geopolitical strains<\/a>, with countries increasingly worried about becoming too dependent on China. Beijing\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang responded to the article by saying the “Belt and Road” is an open and inclusive initiative for regional cooperation and not a geopolitical tool, The Economic Times reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Since Mr. Xi announced the plan in his 2013 visit to Kazakhstan, Eurosia Industry reports, it has mushroomed<\/a> into a significant policy and the centerpiece of the president\u2019s international economic strategy.<\/p>\n While most analysts agree that the initiative will expand economic activities for nearby countries spread along the traditional Silk Road, some are unsure about the feasibility of the plan, pointing to the political unrest and insurgency in areas along the route of the Belt and Road, including China\u2019s autonomous Xinjiang Uighur region (XUAR) \u2013 the emerging core zone of the Silk Road Economic Belt.<\/p>\n According to the Global Perspectives Magazine for International Cooperation, separatist groups in Xinjiang, such as the Uighurs\u2019 East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have forged links with militants and extremists in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Central Asian republics.<\/p>\n Analyst attribute the Xinjiang unrests to the economic divide between the Han-majority northern city of Urumqi and Uighur. As the Guardian reported<\/a>, many \u201cUighurs feel like second-class citizens in Xinjiang, culturally, socially and economically discriminated against by the now-dominant Han.”<\/p>\n Yet the plan could be the path to long-term stability for Xinjiang. A Chinese official was quoted saying that \u201cXinjiang will be the biggest beneficiary of the Silk Road,\u201d and \u201cwill help it open up further, increase trade, tourism and other exchanges with neighboring countries,\u201d according to the Guardian.<\/a><\/p>\n The Silk Road dates back to 220 BC, and was named after the lucrative Chinese silk trade that were central to business across the Asian continent, connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a significant player in the rise of both Eastern and Western civilizations, including China, India, Greece, Rome, and Persia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Silk Road is part of China\u2019s ‘One Belt, One Road,’ an economic development strategy launched by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}