Sophia Nina Burna-Asefi
In the middle of the Pamir mountains, near the remote Tajik-Afghan border area of Badakhshan, I find myself staring at a large red banner with Chinese text that says “China Aid: Shared Humanity.” Beside it, another reads, “Belt and Road, win-win with you!” The phrases land with a soft thud. The intensity of the first banner’s red color stands boldly against the dusty gray mountain rock. You couldn’t miss it.
This was not the first time I saw banners promoting the building of China’s “community of common destiny.” Not only in Tajikistan but in the rest of the “Belt and Road cities” across South and Central Asia, the Chinese presence was notable and poignant. Although often limited to infrastructure construction sites, industrial zones, and Chinese restaurants, huge logos with Chinese characters also hung on unfinished buildings.
The slogans come from the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concept for a “community of common destiny for mankind” (人类命运共同体). As I found, the strategic branding of Chinese Belt and Road projects were not the only tactics being deployed by China to build influence in the South and Central Asia region.
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