Edited by Joseph Chinyong Liow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Hong Liu, Tan Lark Sye Chair Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Director, Nanyang Centre for Public Administration, Nanyang Technological University and Gong Xue, Assistant Professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

‘The book offers a timely series of studies on the BRI edited by three Singapore-based political scientists. The collection presents a solid read for students, scholars, policymakers, and other professionals interested in recent developments concerning the BRI. Practically, the editors aim to raise the Chinese government’s attention to the significance of adapting to multilateralism, which China has claimed it supports. Theoretically, through the lens of the BRI, the book explores the implications of a rising China on global governance across diverse fields. Finally, and specifically for geographers, the book should inspire greater exploration into the spatiality of BRI projects.’

• Contents:Preface and acknowledgements xixIntroduction to the Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative xxJoseph Chinyong Liow, Hong Liu and Gong XuePART I CONCEPTUAL AND THEMATIC ISSUES1 China and the Maritime Silk Road: from passive to active participant 2John N. Miksic2 The domestic politics of the Belt and Road Initiative and its implications 14Baogang He3 China’s railway diplomacy under the Belt and Road Initiative 28Shang-su Wu4 The Belt and Road Initiative’s evolving security dimension 43Alessandro Arduino5 Looking into energy security through the lens of the Belt and RoadInitiative: can China achieve a more secure energy future? 54Lixia Yao6 China’s global quest for food and the Belt and Road Initiative 65Hongzhou Zhang7 BRI and global development praxis: is a paradigm shift eminent? 76Ana Cristina D. Alves8 The Digital Silk Road: understanding China’s technological rise and theimplications for global governance 88Clayton T. Cheney9 The strategic rationale of China’s Belt and Road Initiative 102Joseph Chinyong Liow10 The Belt and Road Initiative as a diplomatic discourse 114Dylan M.H. LohPART II THE MARITIME DOMAIN11 Soaring Garuda meets rising dragon: the political economy of the Beltand Road Initiative in Indonesia 123Guanie Lim and Hong Liu12 Explaining the Belt and Road in the Philippines: elite consolidation,construction contracts, and online gambling capital 137Alvin Camba, Jerik Cruz, Janica Magat and Angela Tritto13 Malaysia and the Belt and Road Initiative: maritime, rail, and digitalconnectivity 150Chow-Bing Ngeow14 China’s first cross-border high-speed railway project and Laos’srelational power 161Gabriele Giovannini15 Cambodian perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative 175Vannarith Chheang and Pheakdey Heng16 Belt and Road Initiative in Myanmar: adapting to the slippery road 190Gong Xue17 The BRI in the new normal of COVID-19: the case of Thailand 202Zhimin Tang and Orrasa Rattana-amornpirom18 Singapore in China’s Belt and Road Initiative 214Sarah Y. Tong and Tuan Yuen Kong19 Pakistan and the BRI: is there a shift from euphoria to pragmatism? 227Khuram Iqbal20 China, Sri Lanka and the BRI 239Chulanee Attanayake and Yuanzhe RenPART III THE OVERLAND BELT21 China’s Belt and Road in the Pacific: implementation, motives and prospects 253Denghua Zhang22 Russia and the overland Belt and Road 264Ekaterina Koldunova23 Poland’s relation to the Belt and Road Initiative: political, economic,infrastructural, and socio-cultural dimensions 274Patrycja Pendrakowska24 BRI in Kazakhstan: pursuing economic partnership amidst rising concerns 286Bhavna Dave25 Uzbekistan and Central Asia in space–time coordinates of the modernSilk Road 299Farkhod Tolipov26 Tajikistan: China’s security gatekeeper in Central Asia 311Yau Tsz Yan27 China’s engagements with Central and Eastern Europe: costs andbenefits in the era of the Belt and Road Initiative 322Alica Kizeková28 China in Nepal: on the politics of the Belt and Road Initiativedevelopment in South Asia 331Galen Murton and Nadine Plachta29 Southeast Europe in current Chinese foreign economic policy 341Jens BastianPART IV THE OVERLAND BELT30 The BRI in Africa: change or continuity in China–Africa relations? 353Linda Calabrese31 China and the Middle East: venturing into the maelstrom 368James M. Dorsey32 Western Europe in the BRI 378Jing Men33 The Indo-Pacific as pushback against the BRI 390Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit34 ‘Not being absent’: China’s Polar Silk Road and the politics of identity 402Marc Lanteigne35 The BRI: fuelling strategic rivalry between China and the United States 414Mingjiang Li36 India, BRI and the emerging post-Galwan China outlook 424Jagannath Panda37 Conclusion: BRI, COVID-19 and the future 437Joseph Chinyong Liow, Hong Liu and Gong XueIndex

Edited by Joseph Chinyong Liow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Hong Liu, Tan Lark Sye Chair Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Director, Nanyang Centre for Public Administration, Nanyang Technological University and Gong Xue, Assistant Professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

‘The book offers a timely series of studies on the BRI edited by three Singapore-based political scientists. The collection presents a solid read for students, scholars, policymakers, and other professionals interested in recent developments concerning the BRI. Practically, the editors aim to raise the Chinese government’s attention to the significance of adapting to multilateralism, which China has claimed it supports. Theoretically, through the lens of the BRI, the book explores the implications of a rising China on global governance across diverse fields. Finally, and specifically for geographers, the book should inspire greater exploration into the spatiality of BRI projects.’

• Contents:Preface and acknowledgements xixIntroduction to the Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative xxJoseph Chinyong Liow, Hong Liu and Gong XuePART I CONCEPTUAL AND THEMATIC ISSUES1 China and the Maritime Silk Road: from passive to active participant 2John N. Miksic2 The domestic politics of the Belt and Road Initiative and its implications 14Baogang He3 China’s railway diplomacy under the Belt and Road Initiative 28Shang-su Wu4 The Belt and Road Initiative’s evolving security dimension 43Alessandro Arduino5 Looking into energy security through the lens of the Belt and RoadInitiative: can China achieve a more secure energy future? 54Lixia Yao6 China’s global quest for food and the Belt and Road Initiative 65Hongzhou Zhang7 BRI and global development praxis: is a paradigm shift eminent? 76Ana Cristina D. Alves8 The Digital Silk Road: understanding China’s technological rise and theimplications for global governance 88Clayton T. Cheney9 The strategic rationale of China’s Belt and Road Initiative 102Joseph Chinyong Liow10 The Belt and Road Initiative as a diplomatic discourse 114Dylan M.H. LohPART II THE MARITIME DOMAIN11 Soaring Garuda meets rising dragon: the political economy of the Beltand Road Initiative in Indonesia 123Guanie Lim and Hong Liu12 Explaining the Belt and Road in the Philippines: elite consolidation,construction contracts, and online gambling capital 137Alvin Camba, Jerik Cruz, Janica Magat and Angela Tritto13 Malaysia and the Belt and Road Initiative: maritime, rail, and digitalconnectivity 150Chow-Bing Ngeow14 China’s first cross-border high-speed railway project and Laos’srelational power 161Gabriele Giovannini15 Cambodian perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative 175Vannarith Chheang and Pheakdey Heng16 Belt and Road Initiative in Myanmar: adapting to the slippery road 190Gong Xue17 The BRI in the new normal of COVID-19: the case of Thailand 202Zhimin Tang and Orrasa Rattana-amornpirom18 Singapore in China’s Belt and Road Initiative 214Sarah Y. Tong and Tuan Yuen Kong19 Pakistan and the BRI: is there a shift from euphoria to pragmatism? 227Khuram Iqbal20 China, Sri Lanka and the BRI 239Chulanee Attanayake and Yuanzhe RenPART III THE OVERLAND BELT21 China’s Belt and Road in the Pacific: implementation, motives and prospects 253Denghua Zhang22 Russia and the overland Belt and Road 264Ekaterina Koldunova23 Poland’s relation to the Belt and Road Initiative: political, economic,infrastructural, and socio-cultural dimensions 274Patrycja Pendrakowska24 BRI in Kazakhstan: pursuing economic partnership amidst rising concerns 286Bhavna Dave25 Uzbekistan and Central Asia in space–time coordinates of the modernSilk Road 299Farkhod Tolipov26 Tajikistan: China’s security gatekeeper in Central Asia 311Yau Tsz Yan27 China’s engagements with Central and Eastern Europe: costs andbenefits in the era of the Belt and Road Initiative 322Alica Kizeková28 China in Nepal: on the politics of the Belt and Road Initiativedevelopment in South Asia 331Galen Murton and Nadine Plachta29 Southeast Europe in current Chinese foreign economic policy 341Jens BastianPART IV THE OVERLAND BELT30 The BRI in Africa: change or continuity in China–Africa relations? 353Linda Calabrese31 China and the Middle East: venturing into the maelstrom 368James M. Dorsey32 Western Europe in the BRI 378Jing Men33 The Indo-Pacific as pushback against the BRI 390Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit34 ‘Not being absent’: China’s Polar Silk Road and the politics of identity 402Marc Lanteigne35 The BRI: fuelling strategic rivalry between China and the United States 414Mingjiang Li36 India, BRI and the emerging post-Galwan China outlook 424Jagannath Panda37 Conclusion: BRI, COVID-19 and the future 437Joseph Chinyong Liow, Hong Liu and Gong XueIndex