World Advances through Cooperative Arrangements among Nations, Not Rigged Rules-Based Order

April 24, 2019 (EIRNS)—Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post just can’t understand why the Belt and Road is advancing, when “China’s Flexible Belt and Road Approach Leads to Ambiguity.” The April 22 article cites numerous furious Aristotelian “experts” complaining that the Belt and Road Initiative is not based on rigid treaties, but memorandums of understanding which can be changed as needed. The MOUs and related agreements on projects are mostly non-binding, so “there are no legal ramifications for the host countries or China if either withdraws from the agreement. ... [T]he lack of institutions, protocols and norms creates huge ambiguities, which could lead to poor outcomes!”

China “prefers broad, principles-based arrangements that have wide latitude so as to enable flexibility on subsequent particulars,” a “specialist” at Washington D.C.’s Institute for China-America Studies whined.

How can this “unprecedented non-binding soft law network” [sic!] be seen as “an unstoppable juggernaut”?

Chen Fengying, former head of the World Economy Institute of China’s Institute of Contemporary International Relations, patiently explained to SCMP that the

“Belt and Road is an idea and a platform instead of a treaty-based organization. While the rule-based Western approach is scrupulous, the China way is realistic, given its target partners are mainly developing countries which may not meet the requirements of strict treaties or other high standards.”

Look at China’s BRI contracts with Malaysia; changes in Malaysia’s internal situation required changes in the contracts. “China has to be flexible while working with developing countries,” Chen pointed out.

This is precisely how American statesman Lyndon LaRouche said that the new paradigm among nations would come into being, not by recipes, but by agreements on principles and projects reflecting common interests. LaRouche emphasized that point in discussing the momentous steps taken by the BRICS nations at their July 2014 summit in Brazil.