HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE IN BEIJING

The Belt and Road Becomes
the World Land-Bridge

[Print version of this presentation]

May 15—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, president of the Schiller Institute, Germany, delivered this speech today at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. She was addressing Roundtable I of the Fifth Global Think Tank Summit.

View full size Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, May 14-15.

There has been a breathtaking dynamic of the New Silk Road in the three and a half years since it was announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013. The Belt and Road Initiative has the obvious potential of quickly becoming a World Land-Bridge, connecting all continents through infrastructure, such as tunnels and bridges, and reinforced by the Maritime Silk Road. As such, it represents a new form of globalization, one not determined by the criteria of profit maximization for the financial sector, but rather the harmonious development of all participating countries on the basis of Win-Win cooperation.

It is therefore important, not to look at the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from the standpoint of an accountant, who projects his statistical viewpoint of cost-benefit into the future, but that we instead think about it as a Vision for the Community of a Shared Future. Where do we want humanity as a whole to be in 10, 100, or even in 1,000 years? Is it not the natural destiny of mankind, as the only creative species known in the universe so far, that we will be building villages on the moon, develop a deeper understanding of the trillions of galaxies in our Universe, solve the problem of what until now have been incurable diseases, or solve the problem of energy and raw materials security through the development of thermonuclear fusion power? By focusing on the common aims of humanity, we will be able to overcome geopolitics and establish a higher level of reason for the benefit of all.

It is obvious, that the World Land-Bridge is ideal for completing the development of the landlocked areas of our planet. The colonization of nearby space will be the obvious next phase of infrastructural development to expand the natural habitat of man.

View full size Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche, participating in the Fifth Global Think Tank Summit on the theme of promoting global growth, on May 15, 2017, during the Belt and Road Forum.

Looking at the world land map, the United States is not merely a country surrounded by two oceans and two neighbors, but can be a central part of an infrastructure corridor which connects the southern tip of Ibero America through Central and South America, with the Eurasian transport system via a tunnel under the Bering Strait. Since President Xi Jinping has made the offer to President Trump for the United States to join the Belt and Road Initiative, there is now a practical proposal on the table, by means of which the United States can become an integral part of the World Land-Bridge. The infrastructure requirements of the United States, which are enormous, could be a perfect opportunity to convert all or part of the $1.4 trillion that China holds in U.S. Treasury bills, into such investments via an infrastructure bank. For example, the United States really needs approximately 40,000 miles of high-speed rail lines, if it wants to match the Chinese plan to connect every large domestic Chinese city by high-speed rail by the year 2020.

The U.S. economy would experience a tremendous boost through such a grand scale of infrastructure investment, and could in turn export into the fast growing Chinese market. Once competition is replaced by cooperation, the opportunities for joint ventures between the United States and China in third countries are enormous.

Now that President Trump has declared his intension to reintroduce the American System of Economy of Alexander Hamilton, Henry C. Clay, and Abraham Lincoln, and to reintroduce the Glass Steagall legislation of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the possibility of an early establishment of a National Bank and a Credit System in order to channel Chinese holdings into infrastructure investments could be implemented soon.

While more and more European nations, both outside and within the EU, are recognizing the tremendous potentials of the BRI and have expressed the intension of becoming a hub for Eurasian cooperation, the EU itself has been relatively reserved, to put it diplomatically.

There is however one huge challenge, which could convince the member states of the EU to cooperate with the BRI: The refugee crisis. The only human way to heal this moral wound of Europe is for the European nations to actively integrate themselves with the BRI, into a Grand Design development plan for all of Africa.

The positive new prospect of United States-Russia de-escalation and military-to-military cooperation in Syria, along with the Astana process, now puts stabilization of the entire Southwest Asia region in sight. Offers by China to extend the New Silk Road to Southwest Asia already exist.

The New Silk Road must—as the ancient one did—lead to an exchange of the most beautiful expressions of culture of all participating countries, in order to succeed. The true meaning of Win-Win cooperation is not just the material benefit of infrastructure and industrial development, but of making the joyful discoveries of other cultures, of the beauty of their classical music, poetry, and painting, and, by knowing them, we strengthen our love for mankind as a whole.

In the building of the World Land-Bridge, all nations will cooperate on studying how to apply the laws of the Nöosphere to the establishment of durable forms of self-government. The development of the creative mental powers of all people in all nations will give all of mankind the sense of unity and purpose which will make our species truly human. When we organize our societies around scientific and artistic discovery, we will perfect our knowledge on how we can continuously advance the process of the self-development of mankind, intellectually, morally, and aesthetically, and we will find our freedom in necessity—doing our duty with passion!