Danger ahead: US bumps in China’s global belt and road
- Beijing’s ambitions to link countries and continents through infrastructure have hit a hazard in Romania, with Bucharest abandoning plans for a joint nuclear energy project
- American pressure could mean a rethink in strategy for other small allies that do business with Chinese partners, observers say
When shareholders of Romanian nuclear firm Nuclearelectrica meet next week in Bucharest, it is expected to be the end of years of talks for a landmark infrastructure deal with China.
The Romanian government has asked the company – of which the state owns 80 per cent – to terminate negotiations with its Chinese partner on the construction of two nuclear reactors.
Nuclearelectrica already has two reactors accounting for roughly a fifth of Romania’s power supply and, under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2015, the company and China General Nuclear (CGN) agreed to establish a joint venture to develop, build and operate two more.
But last week, Romania, a strong ally of the United States, said Nuclearelectrica needed to find another partner for the new plants, asking it to “initiate the procedures regarding the ceasing of negotiations with CGN, as well as the ceasing of the legal effects”.
Regional observers said the two cases highlighted the growing rivalry between the US and China and how small countries were being caught up in the crossfire in the great power contest.