China’s digital silk route: A case study on Ethiopia and its larger ramifications

Abstract

Proposed by President Xi Jinping, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become the policy that shapes China’s geo-political standing, and its relationship with the world political economy at large. BRI, as defined by the World Bank is “a China- led effort to improve connectivity and regional co-operation on a trans-continental scale through large-scale investments”. A comparatively less debated component of this initiative is the “Digital Silk Route”. Formally announced in May 2017, at the first Belt and Road International Forum, it aims to “improve international communication connectivity” and foster internationalization of China’s growing tech companies. The Digital Silk Road project consists of four technology focused, interrelated components - 1. Investment in digital infrastructure on foreign lands. This essentially includes fiber optic cables, next-generation cellular networks, and data centers. 2. Intense focus on the domestic development of advanced technological infrastructure such as satellite navigation systems, AI and quantum computing. This would be essential for China to become a “cyber superpower” from both an economic and military perspective. For instance, currently, the US remains the global leader in satellite-driven navigation systems with the GPS. The global version of Beidou, China’s own navigation system, will launch this year with, and will significantly increase China’s capability in surveillance and military command-andcontrol. 3. China, as well as its state supported tech behemoths have identified e-commerce as the contributing force in making China an economic superpower. With the Digital Silk Route, Chinese corporations can now penetrate new lucrative markets through the creation of digital free trade zones. Such zones would reduce cross-border trade barriers in turn increasing international e- commerce. 4. Advanced technology remains a largely ungoverned space without any established global standards. China is working to establish international norms in the cyber space through digital diplomacy and e-governance. It has already collaborated with multilateral institutions to establish standards related to telecommunications and promoted the principles of cyber supremacy at UN forums. With these in place, China is poised to assert its supremacy as the global leader in the realm of technology by actively propagating its vision of the normative framework governing the cyber and digital realms. This paper explores the implications of the said initiative in the context of China’s geostrategic powerplay and socio-economic superiority in a world progressively being led by data.