IMEC and TAC: Diplomatic Masterstrokes by the US and the EU, Bad News for Beijing

On September 9th, two announcements were made that were tectonic shifts in global economics: the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/09/fact-sheet-world-leaders-launch-a-landmark-india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)</a> and the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/09/joint-statement-from-the-united-states-and-the-european-union-on-support-for-angola-zambia-and-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congos-commitment-to-further-develop-the-lobito-corridor-and-the/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Trans-African Corridor (TAC)</a>. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:589/1*b_a9-X8hgvGiZo5VHlV84A.png" style="height:388px; width:589px" /> (<a href="https://idrw.org/turkey-asserts-its-role-in-global-trade-corridors-amid-the-emergence-of-imec/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">idrw.org</a>) Almost immediately, I saw various Chinese nationalists begin posting criticisms about it online. For example, here’s one by Zhao DaShuai whose <a href="https://x.com/zhao_dashuai/status/1701916489396503024?s=20" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">thread</a> lists all the reasons why she believes the IMEC makes no sense. Here’s two of them: <ul> <li>Why build a whole new high-speed railroad to bypass the Suez Canal? Goods will be offloaded in the UAE, transported across the deserts, and onloaded in Israel, and so will be (she assumes) more expensive and slower than just using the Suez Canal.</li> <li>If Trump wins the next election, the US will pull out, so who will the Saudis and Emiratis choose to build said high-speed railroad? Obviously, the people with by far the most experience and lowest prices: China.</li> </ul> I encourage everyone to read her <a href="https://x.com/zhao_dashuai/status/1701916489396503024?s=20" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">thread</a> where she makes what are — from her viewpoint — very cogent points making the case that financially, technologically, and politically, IMEC is a logistical boondoggle of grand scale. <a href="https://glennrocess.medium.com/imec-and-tac-diplomatic-masterstrokes-by-the-us-and-the-eu-bad-news-for-beijing-9093f7659bc1">Learn More</a>