How do we share the knowledge, particularly when the media may be filled with negative and sometimes hate-filled stories? What is said on the US news channel Fox News, what is tweeted by presidents and the ill-informed and inflammatory statements from some senior policy advisers make it difficult to present alternative viewpoints. And, yet, it is these alternative viewpoints that are essential in developing a better understanding of policies such as the BRI.
(Sept 9): For hundreds of years, Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves offered protection for the Diamond Sutra and thousands of other ancient scrolls. In 1907, British explorer Aurel Stein stole 40,000 of those manuscripts from China. This is not the method we want to follow when we discuss development opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
We live in more enlightened times and use very different approaches to preserving history and developing cultural exchanges so we can better share and understand the development opportunities. The BRI encourages these pathways and also opens new connections between diverse areas. Shared knowledge is shared understanding, and together these improve relations between people and between nation states.
