China’s efforts to forge new economic and diplomatic alliances through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative are now well known. But Beijing is also extending its presence and power globally in quieter, smaller or surprising ways.
At every point of the compass, Beijing is laying the foundations of its new international order and shaping places and institutions outside its borders in its image.
The Washington Post set out to report on the breadth of China’s ambitions and visit countries where Beijing is successfully building influence and where it has run into difficulty. A global team of reporters and photographers has fanned out across the world to report these stories from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe. The Post has uncovered new details about the tactics China is employing to execute what amounts to a global leap.
Winning friends by training workers
Singapore-based investigative correspondent Shibani Mahtani traveled to Indonesia to report on the accelerating effort by Beijing to wield its companies and educational institutes as an arm of diplomacy. When they were first introduced in 2016, vocational training programs were a component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese-funded and -directed Luban workshops have expanded to 25 countries, emblematic of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s efforts to extend his country’s soft power, especially in the Global South.
Mahtani investigated how Xi wants to build influence among ethnic-Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, as a way to build support for China’s geopolitical ambitions. But in seeking to incorporate citizens of other countries into its vision, critics say, Beijing is stoking divided loyalties. Concerns are most pronounced in Singapore, a multiracial city-state with a majority ethnic-Chinese population that is increasingly sympathetic to Beijing.
Growing a security presence in the Pacific
Australia bureau chief Michael Miller spent a week in Fiji to report on the fallout from China’s policing agreement with the country and how Beijing can overreach by projecting its police powers overseas, sometimes with little regard for local authorities. China hoped Fiji would be a template for the Pacific, but Fijians soured on some of the police actions, and last year China failed to forge a sweeping security pact with 10 Pacific island nations.
Becoming a leader in biotech and biopharmaceuticals
Reporter Joby Warwick went to Serbia to examine how China has been building a massive database of genetic information from around the world to realize its goal of becoming a leader in biotechnology by 2035. Genetic information — sometimes called “the new gold” — is the crucial ingredient in a scientific revolution that could produce thousands of new drugs and cures. China received an unexpected boost from the coronavirus pandemic, which created opportunities for Chinese companies to distribute gene-sequencing machines and build partnerships for genetic research in places where Beijing previously had little or no access.
Evolving diplomatic relations
Senior national security correspondent Karen DeYoung traveled to Tegucigalpa to report on the Honduran government’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with China, breaking its ties with Taiwan. The switch was the latest in string of foreign policy victories for Beijing in Central America. Biden administration and U.S. military officials see potentially ominous strategic implications.
Loans from China become a burden
Mahtani traveled to Laos to ride its new high-speed train, one of numerous infrastructure projects financed by loans from China. Beijing’s vision for its neighboring countries in Southeast Asia began here 10 years ago with the promise of prosperity through economic integration — and now the future of that understanding is being tested as Laos is struggling with its indebtedness.
Dominating deep-sea industry
China bureau chief Lily Kuo traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, home of the International Seabed Authority, a U.N. agency responsible for regulating deep-sea mining. She examined how China is playing an outsize role in this new industry, from influencing the rules to getting a jump on surveying the sea floor. Together, this could enable it to dominate the rare metals industry that will be crucial for next-generation technology with military and civilian applications.
Building a global network of ports
Global affairs correspondent Liz Sly and graphics reporter Júlia Ledur documented how China owns or operates terminals at nearly 100 ports in over 50 countries. The majority of the investments have been made by companies owned by the Chinese government, effectively making Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party the biggest operator of the ports that lie at the heart of global supply chains. The creation of what China calls a Maritime Silk Road has significant military implications as well. The ports could eventually be used to help China defend its supply routes, spy on U.S. military movements and potentially engage U.S. shipping, according to analysts.
Growing space infrastructure
National security reporter Cate Cadell traveled to Bolivia to visit a Chinese-built ground station that supports China’s commercial space and satellite programs, part of a growing network of such facilities that span the globe. The Pentagon is increasingly concerned that these facilities in Latin America, Antarctica and elsewhere have defense capabilities. U.S. officials say the ground stations — which allow countries to maintain uninterrupted communication with satellites and other space vehicles — could expand Beijing’s global military surveillance network in the southern hemisphere and areas close to the United States.
Reporting, editing, production and support on China’s Global Leap involved a project team of more than 30 people.
