US and allies urged to increase digital investments in Asia to counter China’s belt and road tech projects
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The United States and its allies should strengthen their investments in Asia’s digital economy to counter China’s increasing presence in the region, experts from the US and Japan have said.
The comments, made during a discussion on “China’s Digital Silk Road” at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Tuesday, were the latest sign of the growing vigilance against China’s overseas technology investments.
In 2015, China outlined the digital dimensions in its “Belt and Road Initiative”, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature programme to create economic ties with nations in Asia, Europe and Africa.
In addition to the building of infrastructure and energy projects along inland and marine trade routes, Beijing proposed setting up intercontinental underwater optical cables and improving satellite information networks to further cement those ties with other developing nations.
To respond to China’s ambitions in digital development, “we should fight for every scrap of the global market share in advanced technology industries”, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
“I don’t think in 10 years it is by default that Chinese will dominate the region from the digital perspective,” Atkinson said, before adding that “if we don’t change the course, then yes, I believe they will dominate”.