China’s One Belt One Road initiative could be the most ambitious infrastructure plan in history. With more than $900 billion committed across four continents, it’s already the biggest sovereign infrastructure project ever conducted.
But it’s also a leap of faith towards a goal of reshaping global trade by reconnecting places along the historic Silk Road trade route with new ports, highways and railroads.
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While most of the projects are concentrated in Asia, China has also extended the initiative beyond its natural sphere of influence. Since 2012, it has made $15 billion worth of infrastructure commitments across central and eastern Europe. For a country like Montenegro, one of Europe’s smallest and poorest, China’s business represents a massive opportunity — and a massive risk.
When the Chinese government guaranteed a loan to Montenegro to finance the construction of one 25 mile stretch of its first-ever highway, one condition was that a Chinese state contractor would do 70 percent of the work.
But the World Bank believes that the Chinese loan — which Montenegro will pay back between 2020 and 2040 — is a threat to Montenegro’s long-term financial stability. VICE News Tonight traveled to the highway to find out where exactly it’s leading.
This segment originally aired May 29, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
