Search

Supported by political and economic incentives, Chinese fishing fleet expansion into African waters has aroused worldwide concerns about local food security and social well-being. Since 2017 the country has initiated the 13th National 5-Year Plan to support distant-water fishing by exporting fishing capacity together with port infrastructure investment, among others, to African coastal States. In light of China's stated intent to transition to an inclusive, transparent, and sustainable approach to reboot the Belt and Road initiative, this study explores, if any, noticeable changes have occurred in how the government, fishing firms and infrastructure builders engage with partner African States. It is held that the fishing grounds within the exclusive economic zones of African nations should be protected as exhaustible natural resources of humankind, and hence safeguarded by collaborative coastal and flag State jurisdictions. It is considered that China's recognition and execution of flag and investor State responsibilities to ensure fisheries legality and sustainability in host African States still face many challenges, as well as the potential for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" is a new trade road linking China and other countries in the world in the new era, promoting the development of Asia Pacific integration. With the increase of China’s investment in the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" countries, its security is influenced by factors such as major country games, regional conflicts, and social instability, and also bringing great uncertainty to investment safety. Therefore, a reasonable assessment of investment security risk of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" is an important basis for ensuring investment security. In this paper, the investment security risk assessment index system is constructed comprehensively based on great power influence, state behavior and state interaction. Aiming at the uncertainty of the assessment index, hesitation degree distribution function of institution fuzzy set is established. The score function and distance measure of intuitionistic fuzzy set are improved, and the quantitative assessment model of investment security risk is constructed by combining TOPSIS method. The investment security risk in 27 countries along the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" was experimentally verified, and the ranking was finally obtained based on different risk attitude of decision maker, which provided reference for the decision-making of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road".

Copyright of Command Control & Simulation / Zhihui Kongzhi yu Fangzhen is the property of Command Control & Simulation Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper addresses the issues of port investment, considering the mutual selection process of the industries planned for transfer and recipient countries with location advantage, along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). We propose a method for determining the production scale of different industries in each country by analyzing location advantage, the regional imports of commodities from each recipient country, the import transportation route scheme, the port network structure, and the port investment scheme along the MSR. This method is constructed on the basis of a hub-spoke network model, a location model, and a matching game model. We select 14 countries along the MSR as a case study and treat them as the supply zones of commodities, while six continents are taken as the demand zones. The numerical analysis show that Sihanoukville Port in Cambodia, Port Klang in Malaysia, and Mundra Port in India will become hub ports, and that 81, 41, and 24 container berths will be constructed at each of these harbors, respectively. Whether a port will become a hub depends on the industrial growth potential in its direct hinterland, its geographical advantages in the global shipping network, and its relative spatial relationship to other hub ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a Persian pottery jug unearthed from Hepu, a well-known port for foreign trade in China during the Han Dynasty. The jug is the earliest and only Persian object dated to the Han Dynasty discovered in China. It thus serves as one of the most significant physical pieces of evidence for the investigation of trade between the Han Dynasty and Southeast Asia, South Asia, and even West Asia. This article takes the Persian jug as its starting point, and combines archaeological data from the same period unearthed from other port sites in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as Chinese and foreign historical documents, to recover the sea route via which the Persian jug moved from West Asia through South and Southeast Asia to Hepu, to confirm that the Han Dynasty had established indirect or direct maritime links with the Parthian Empire by the second century A.D. at the latest. This conclusion is supported with the discovery of glass and bronze cymbals from Western Asian and Mediterranean regions in Hepu and Panyu, the latter of which served as the largest foreign goods distribution center in the southern coastal area of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a comprehensive strategy devised by the Chinese government to promote global connectivity through multiple pathways. The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) is primarily concerned with establishing land-based links that stretch across continents. In contrast, the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is focussed on creating sea-based corridors that connect different maritime hubs. The ports situated along the MSR are not only infrastructural institutions; rather, they play a crucial role in facilitating commerce, fostering economic development, shaping geopolitical strategies, and facilitating cultural interchange. The objective of this research is to not only delineate the existing nodes and ports comprising the MSR but also ascertain prospective sites that might be smoothly included into this maritime infrastructure. A comprehensive comprehension of MSR necessitates an evaluation of the perspectives held by various international stakeholders. The basis of this study is a comprehensive literature analysis that aimed to analyse the development of ports inside the MSR framework since its establishment in 2013. Despite the significance of the programme, there is a notable scarcity of comprehensive studies that expressly examine port involvement in MSR. The existence of this gap serves to highlight the originality and uniqueness of our study. Through an analysis of port ownership patterns, recent investment flows, current political climates, and the extent of MSR’s involvement, this report provides a detailed perspective on the marine aspect of China’s overarching goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTTarget 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14) depicts a better future regarding the capacity of coastal environments to cope with several developmental challenges. However, gaps in the data and indicators restrict the effective implementation of this global plan. In this context, under the umbrella of the Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) Program, the DBAR_COAST working group (WG) aims to solve the problems of coastal sustainable development along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). This paper demonstrates the recent efforts of the DBAR_COAST WG to develop indicators based on Earth observation (EO) data (i.e. the natural coastal protection index (NCPI), the local proportion of habitats protected index (LPHPI), and the coastal eco-erosion index (CEEI)), which complement the existing indicators related to SDGs 14.2, 14.5 and 14.7. These indicators all satisfy indicative, robust, scientifically sound and accessible data principles. Based on them, both the coastal protection (NCPI = 0.97) and protected area coverage (LPHPI = 0.38) in the MSR still had much room for improvement in 2020, and pressure from aquaculture expansion (CEEI = 0.11) showed significant regionally spatial heterogeneity. These indicators serve to provide a guideline for indicator-based assessment in monitoring the progress toward achieving SDG 14.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is poised to profoundly reshape the regional geographical landscape. While existing communication studies on BRI have focused on the official and media narratives to frame the initiative, the overall orientation of the topic in academic circles is not well understood. By conducting a bibliometric literature review, this paper addresses this gap by answering the research question: How is the BRI reflected in the academic literature? In the review, we divide all academic studies on BRI into four cohorts (studies from scholars based in China, in Quad countries, in the rest of the world, and cross-collaborating scholars) and use structural topic model to understand the themes and trends on BRI scholarship from scholars from these regions. Our results show that scholars in different cohorts understand BRI differently, specifically, with China-based scholars projecting ideas of development, growth and sustainability, while Quad-based scholars mostly focus on the geopolitical impact, security implications and debt sustainability of BRI. The findings also show a divergence between popular narratives on BRI and academic research on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the geoeconomic and geostrategic motives driving China's establishment of a military base in Djibouti. From a geoeconomic perspective, it explores economic interests and opportunities in the Horn of Africa. Geographically, it addresses implications for global power dynamics, militarization of China-Africa partnerships, oil resource security, peacekeeping, counterterrorism, piracy, and the Maritime Silk Road. It also delves into China's Maritime Security Strategy within the Belt and Road Initiative, focusing on marine environmental protection, cooperative development, security alliances, knowledge promotion, and governance. A qualitative approach to research involves combining primary sources, such as official Chinese documents, with secondary sources, such as reports from the media and scholarly articles. Through a literature review and analysis, China's motives for the Djibouti military base are discerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimated ocean subsurface fields derived from satellite observations provide potential data sources for operational marine environmental monitoring and prediction systems. This study employs a statistic regression reconstruction method, in combination with domestic autonomous sea surface height and sea surface temperature observations from the Haiyang-2 (HY-2) satellite fusion data, to establish an operational quasi-real-time three-dimensional (3D) temperature and salinity products over the Maritime Silk Road. These products feature a daily temporal resolution and a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° and exhibit stability and continuity. We have demonstrated the accuracy of the reconstructed thermohaline fields in capturing the 3D thermohaline variations through comprehensive statistical evaluations, after comparing them against Argo observations and ocean analysis data from 2022. The results illustrate that the reconstructed fields effectively represent seasonal variations in oceanic subsurface structures, along with structural changes resulting from mesoscale processes, and the upper ocean's responses to tropical cyclones. Furthermore, the incorporation of HY-2 satellite observations notably enhances the accuracy of temperature and salinity reconstructions in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and marginally improves salinity reconstruction accuracy in the North Indian Ocean when compared to the World Ocean Atlas 2018 monthly climatology thermohaline fields. As a result, the reconstructed product holds promise for providing quasi-real-time 3D temperature and salinity field information to facilitate fast decision-making during emergencies, and also offers foundational thermohaline fields for operational ocean reanalysis and forecasting systems. These contributions enhance the safety and stability of ocean subsurface activities and navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Silk Road presents not only great opportunities for development but also enormous challenges to marine ecological security. While, there lacks a systematic assessment of the state of marine ecological security at the regional multi-country scale, which leads to the limited understanding of the marine ecological security from integrated dimensions. This study considered 30 countries along the Maritime Silk Road, constructed marine ecological security assessment indicator system based on Environment-Economy-Society (EES) model, and combined with fuzzy object element model, assessed the spatial and temporal changes of marine ecological security of each country from 2013 to 2019. The results showed that Tanzania has the best state of marine environmental security and Bahrain has the worst state of marine environmental security in terms of marine environmental security. In terms of marine economic security, from 2013 to 2019, there is an upward trend in marine economic security in South Asia. In terms of marine social security, Philippines has the best marine social security, with a security index of 0.787. From the comprehensive assessment results, the marine ecological security situation of the countries along the Maritime Silk Road generally shows an upward trend during the 2013–2019 period. Factors such as the construction of marine protected areas, marine industry, port construction, coastal population numbers, and the number of foreign tourists have significant impacts on marine ecological security. Countries along the Maritime Silk Road should take measures in the areas of marine infrastructure construction, marine ecological restoration and protection, and transboundary cooperation and management in order to promote the sustainable development of marine ecological security in the future.

Abstract The Suez Canal (SC) serves as the shortest maritime transport route from east to west. In the absence of the SC, global trade and transportation costs would increase substantially, impeding the expansion potential of the global economy. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a key component of China's future international trading network, with significant implications for global seaborne trade. The BRI's two primary pillars are the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and the Silk Road Economic Belt, both of which have significant infrastructural investments. The MSR connects China to various regions in Asia, Africa, and Europe via the SC, thereby serving as a significant maritime trade route on a global scale, particularly between Europe and China. This is due to the SC's distinctive positioning on the MSR. Consequently, studying the significance of BRI for the SC cargo trade is crucial. This study uses annual data from 1990 to 2022 to examine this dynamic relationship. To account for the interaction effect of the variables, we use the vector autoregressive model and the impulse response function. Model results show that China's seaborne trade will increase SC trade by 23%, and China's BRI investment projects are anticipated to have a 5% significant impact on SC cargo trade and will continue to grow in the medium and long run. According to these findings, the SC has to continue to adopt more flexible pricing and marketing strategies to encourage and attract more customers. As a result, the SC could become a global logistics center and transform from a trade gateway to a global hub if it develops more value-added activities in its adjacent areas and attracts substantial Chinese investments.

Using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' ERA5 reanalysis system and global meteorological data at a time resolution of 1h from 2012 to 2022, an analysis of the sea conditions in typical sea areas along the Maritime Silk Road was conducted. The validity and accuracy of the ERA5 data were verified using measured data from the South China Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the TEMA New Container Terminal Project in Ghana, and sea conditions were given for each season under the common constraints of wind and waves in the target sea area based on the supporting engineering. The average distribution of wave characteristics along the Maritime Silk Road in each season was calculated, and the joint probability distribution of effective wave height and peak period was given for typical sea areas in China's southeastern coast, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Guinea. The results show that ERA5 data can better reflect the sea conditions of the target sea area. During the construction process, special attention should be paid to the impact of summer wave height and long-period waves throughout the year based on the engineering support. The overall sea conditions in China′s southeastern coast and the Arabian Sea are relatively good, while the Bay of Bengal is more complex with effective wave height and spectral peak period greater than 1.5 m and 10 s, respectively, constituting over 85% of the total. Therefore, during the early investment planning stage, special attention should be paid to the ocean conditions in the Bay of Bengal.

Traditional studies typically employed random and deliberate attack methods to explore port failure, overlooking real-world factors. In this research, we focus on exploring the reliability of the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) container shipping networks after the failure of Chinese coastal ports due to the impact of typhoons. This article analyzes AIS trajectory data and typhoon occurrence data through entropy weight method and grey correlation analysis, to construct an evaluation model for the failure of Chinese critical ports. Then, we will look at the effects of deliberately removing Chinese critical ports from the MSR container shipping system. The main conclusions drawn are as follows: (1) Except for some of the largest ports (i.e., Ningbo-Zhoushan, Shanghai, and Kaohsiung), the importance of Chinese coastal ports varies slightly in the MSR container maritime network, while it varies widely in their exposure and resistance to typhoons. (2) Ports of Ningbo Zhoushan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shekou, Kaohsiung, and Yantian rank high in the comprehensive evaluation results. They have a higher probability of failure when affected by typhoon risks. (3) After the failure of Chinese crucial ports, the reliability of the MSR container maritime network successively declined, recovered, and stabilized. This study can offer a valuable reference for relevant actors involved in safeguarding crucial ports, finding alternative ports, optimizing shipping routes, and improving the reliability of maritime networks under typhoons and other major natural disasters.

The Suez Canal (SC) serves as the shortest maritime transport route from east to west. In the absence of the SC, global trade and transportation costs would increase substantially, impeding the expansion potential of the global economy. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a key component of China's future international trading network, with significant implications for global seaborne trade. The BRI's two primary pillars are the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and the Silk Road Economic Belt, both of which have significant infrastructural investments. The MSR connects China to various regions in Asia, Africa, and Europe via the SC, thereby serving as a significant maritime trade route on a global scale, particularly between Europe and China. This is due to the SC's distinctive positioning on the MSR. Consequently, studying the significance of BRI for the SC cargo trade is crucial. This study uses annual data from 1990 to 2022 to examine this dynamic relationship. To account for the interaction effect of the variables, we use the vector autoregressive model and the impulse response function. Model results show that China's seaborne trade will increase SC trade by 23%, and China's BRI investment projects are anticipated to have a 5% significant impact on SC cargo trade and will continue to grow in the medium and long run. According to these findings, the SC has to continue to adopt more flexible pricing and marketing strategies to encourage and attract more customers. As a result, the SC could become a global logistics center and transform from a trade gateway to a global hub if it develops more value-added activities in its adjacent areas and attracts substantial Chinese investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sites of Maritime Silk Road in Haikou City are composed of sites of navigation and trade, religious temples and stone monuments, urban construction and coastal defense scattered on the south bank of the Qiongzhou Strait. They played a key role in the formation and shaping of the settlements in Haikou City, recorded the process of intercommunication and integration between Chinese civilization and other regional cultures, and witnessed the germination, flourishing and inheritance of Haikou’s unique marine culture. The mixture of points, lines and planes blends with the urban area and coastline of Haikou City in spatial distribution. In this paper, from the perspective of world cultural heritage, some suggestions for the protection planning of sites of Maritime Silk Road in Haikou City were proposed based on the analysis of historical and geographical background, comparison of domestic and foreign similar sites, and evaluation of cultural heritage value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) plays a significant role in international trade and the global economy, contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, most countries along the MSR are developing nations and emerging economies with high natural resource consumption and fragile environments and face conflicts between economic development and environmental protection. In this context, understanding the status of natural resource utilization in MSR countries is important to advance sustainable development in these countries and promote the construction of the Green Belt and Road, and global environmental governance. Focusing on SDGs 6 (water), 14 (life below water), and 15 (life on land), this study constructed an indicator framework for assessing the sustainable use of natural resources with 24 targets and 42 indicators. Strong and weak sustainability concepts were introduced, and the constant elasticity of substitution function and combined compromise solution method were used to assess the sustainability of natural resource use for 46 countries along the MSR in 2020. The results showed that: (1) the scores in the weak sustainability scenario were higher than those in the strong scenario. The differences in the target scores between the two sustainability scenarios revealed unevenness among the indicator scores. Strong sustainability prefers balanced performance across indicators over weak sustainability. (2) MSR countries performed poorly on targets 6.3 (Improve water quality), 6.4 (Water use), 6.5 (Integrated water resources management), 14.1 (Reduce marine pollution), 14.4 (Conserve fish stocks), 14.5 (Protect marine protected areas), 14. a (Develop marine science and technology), 15.1 (Ecosystem systems and services) and 15.6 (Access and share genetic resources); therefore, these countries should increase their efforts in these areas and improve relevant policies and measures. (3) From the perspective of SDG scores, Portugal, Croatia, and Italy topped each SDG, while Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti lagged. Several countries, such as Singapore, Iran, and Myanmar, show uneven performance. Governments should develop more effective resource development and conservation plans based on their strengths and weaknesses. (4) Regarding final rankings, Portugal, Croatia, and Greece had the best overall performance, whereas Liberia, Somalia, and Djibouti ranked last. Regionally, Europe ranked highest, followed by South America, Asia, and Africa, which are related to their economic development and resource endowment levels. (5) In the future, China and the MSR countries should focus on promoting international cooperation in areas such as water security, blue carbon development, and biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, China should develop targeted investment and cooperation strategies based on the differences in resource use, environmental conditions, and development levels among countries. This study provides a reference for deepening cooperation between China and the MSR countries regarding ecological and environmental protection.

As the most significant international transportation infrastructure, the operation and external links of ports are affected by more complicated aspects, resulting in immense changes not seen in a century. Related studies have long been interested in and have followed the evaluation of port location advantage as a comprehensive response to ports' economic and trade conditions. Location advantage reflects the overall resource advantage of a location. Transportation infrastructure can be evaluated from various perspectives, and the choice of different indicators sets the evaluation slant for its use. A port's ability to operate depends on natural navigational conditions, high-quality infrastructure, an appropriate economic hinterland, favorable geographic relationships, and a global environment. Port location advantage has traditionally been focused on from the perspective of transportation routes, hinterland economy, etc. The geographical proximity of nations also has a significant impact on how ports function in today's complex international development environments. To evaluate the advantages of port location along the route, this study uses the geo-relationships between various countries as well as the physical, functional, and economic links between ports as its research objects. It then homogenizes the national-scale WGI Global Governance Index to ports and incorporates it with port-scale maritime distances and route linkages as an integrated model of the degree of location advantage of the ports, using ports along the Maritime Silk Road from 2008 to 2018 as case studies to show how much the ports' advantage in location affects their significance in the real world international environment. The research findings are as follows. 1) Because of the relative position of the hinterland economy in international economic and trade exchanges, the port location advantage also exhibits some scale-free characteristics, and the quantitative expression of geo-relationships between ports emphasizes the importance of ports. As a representative of Asia's emerging economies, China has added more ports with more significant location advantages. 2) The strength of location connections between ports follows the law of distance attenuation, and the shift in the center of gravity of port location connections to Asia reflects the formation of a port location connection pattern dominated by internal Asia with the development of many emerging economies therein. 3) Comparison with mainstream complex network indicators found that although the concentration of factor flow has been formed under the "flow space" in the era of globalization, primary geographical attributes such as geographical relationships and spatial distance still maintain their independence and do not exhibit spatial imbalance under the influence of the reconstruction of global industries and trade. The location of ports based on geographical relationships and port location dominance avoids the limitations of a single perspective in evaluating port location in the international shipping network and can serve as a new basis for assessing the importance of ports in shipping networks; the expression of geographical spatial relationships fills the evaluation gap of existing network indicators.

This article analyses recent archaeological work on the flow of materials and their influences on the communities in the South China Sea maritime regions, primarily from a local, Taiwanese perspective. The intertwined Austronesian Routes and maritime Silk Road acted as the primary conduit for the movement of both people and materials. Archaeological findings demonstrate intermittent interaction and cultural exchange between Taiwan and the regions around the South China Sea during the period 1,500-500 BCE. However, starting from 500 BCE, the gradual increase of glass beads, agate beads, and metal products which were made in mainland Southeast Asia and adjacent regions indicate an intensified interaction between Taiwan and Southeast Asia via the Maritime Silk Road and the Austronesian Routes. The author hypothesizes that trade diasporic craftspeople were the carriers of these exotic materials and knowledge, and that external cultural elements had a profound impact on the development of contemporary prehistoric Formosan society. This can be seen most notably in the shifting of decoration systems, the changing methods of subsistence, and technological leaps. Some of the impacts have faded into the archaeological records, but others are still traceable in the modern Indigenous society of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory article sets out the global historical approach adopted by the articles in this special issue, focusing on the circulations of goods, peoples, and ideas in ancient Afro-Eurasia (300 BCE-700 CE). Special attention is given to the overland Silk Road and Indo-Pacific networks of maritime exchange. Our aims are to apply globalization thinking to a wider (macro) frame than has arguably been done in existing ancient world studies, to ensure that sufficient focus is maintained on how the local and global intersect, and to demonstrate the analytical utility of concepts connected to globalization and glocalization. Ultimately, we seek to go beyond merely applying theories of globalization to new data, but to use these data to offer an alternative approach to the study of global Antiquity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime domain has emerged as an emblematic arena for geopolitical maneuvering, economic synergy, and strategic competition in the 21st century. As the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has assumed greater resonance, the maritime component of this corridor, often referred to as the “Maritime Silk Road,” holds the potential to reshape and nurtures the economic and geopolitical landscape in the Indian Ocean region. The blue economy encompasses various sectors, including fisheries, shipping, renewable energy, and trade while plays as a catalyst in the economic prosperity and sustainability of coastal nations. This research aims to explore the multifaceted geopolitical implications of the maritime cooperation between Pakistan and China, with a specific focus on its profound impact on the blue economy. This blue web of strategic nexus has potential in the terms of diplomatic, military, and economic ties, while capable of harnessing cultural, technological, and educational exchanges. Gwadar Port, the gateway to the Arabian Sea, has emerged as a pivotal factor in this equation due to its role in fostering regional and international interconnectivity. However, this is also vulnerable to growing security, environmental, and geopolitical rivalries.

The past decade has seen a notable increase in tensions in the South China Sea. Superficially the new situation has been triggered by Chinese territorial claims centering around the "Nine Dash Line." While there is a large body of literature digging out China's strategic interests behind its increasing assertiveness in the contested waters, it falls short of an overall investigation of Beijing's maritime grand strategy—in which the South China Sea occupies a critical position. The aim of this article is therefore to examine the geostrategic, geopolitical, and geoeconomic significance of the South China Sea which comes to the fore in China's grand strategy. It argues that these sea waters are critical in Beijing's plans to establish and protect its status as a global maritime power in light of the sea energy reservoir, fisheries, and other vital maritime economic interests to reinforce its economic powerhouse. Beijing's power projection and its increasing assertiveness in the contested waters have also served in the pursuit of controlling vital sea lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean. Significantly, the South China Sea preoccupies Beijing's leadership's strategic pursuit of being a global sea power as a balancing act vis-a-vis the United States in the Indo-Pacific region and intensifying the blockade of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tropical Geography is the property of Tropical Geography Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tropical Geography is the property of Tropical Geography Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although inspired by the nineteenth-century term 'Silk Road(s)', the phrase 'Maritime Silk Road' has its own origins, connotations, and applications. This article examines the emergence of the latter term as a China-centric concept and its various entanglements since the early 1980s, involving the People's Republic of China's (PRC) political bodies, academia, the 'open door' policy, the pursuit of World Heritage listings, and the current 'Belt and Road Initiative'. These entanglements, the article contends, have resulted in the emergence of what could be called a 'Maritime Silk Road' ecosystem in the PRC. The analysis of this ecosystem presented in the article reveals not only the processes through which a narrative on China's engagement with the maritime world has been constructed over time, but also its association with issues of national pride, heritage- and tradition-making, foreign-policy objectives, and claims to territorial sovereignty. As such, the 'Maritime Silk Road' must be understood as a concept that is intimately entwined with the recent history of the PRC and distinct from its nineteenth-century antecedent, which was used as a label for overland connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is an important channel for maritime trade between China and other countries in the world. Maritime piracy has brought huge security risks to ships' navigation and has seriously threatened the lives and property of crew members. To reduce the likelihood of attacks from pirates, it is necessary to study the risk to a ship exposed to attacks from pirates on the MSR. Firstly, risk factors were established from three risk component categories (hazard, mitigation capacity, and vulnerability and exposure) and the risk index system of piracy and armed robbery events was founded. Secondly, the dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) method was introduced to establish a pirate attack risk assessment model ad to conduct a quantitative analysis of the process risk of a ship being attacked by pirates. Finally, combined with the scene data of the MSR, the process risk of a ship being attacked by pirates was modeled and applied as an example. The results showed that the overall risk of a ship being attacked by pirates is the lowest in July and the highest in March. In the whole route, when the ship was in the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Aden–Arabian Sea, and the Strait of Malacca, the risk of pirate attack was the highest. This dynamic network model can effectively analyze the level of risk of pirate attacks on ships, providing a reference for the safety decision-making of ships on ocean routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of South Architecture / Nanfang Jianzhu is the property of South Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the rise of 'new' state capitalisms, control over transport infrastructure has returned to the forefront of competition in the global economy. This article investigates how different state capitalisms interact to enable economic developments in ports. It tracks the relationship between state-owned firms in the shipping and ports sectors through a case study of the port of Valencia in Spain and COSCO shipping group. The article identifies state capitalisms as variegated and relational to analyze the ways in which qualitatively different state capitalist dynamics interact at different scales. The article identifies two state capitalist dynamics which have been dominant in determining relations between Spanish and Chinese state capitalisms: 1) A commercial dynamic of maximizing Spanish ports profits by establishing new relationships with Chinese firms; and 2) an expansionary dynamic of increasing market share of Chinese state-owned firms in European shipping markets. These two dynamics are synergistic and have contributed to the competitiveness of Spanish ports and Chinese shipping firms by providing new capital to the port of Valencia and expanding the port's profile as a hub in the eastern Mediterranean, while also further solidifying COSCO's position in European shipping markets and its internalization and vertical integration strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a massive problem that poses a significant threat to the sustainability of marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fishing for their food and income. Many issues have emerged, such as declining fishery resources, regional fishery incidents, political impacts, and disputes over sovereignty, which all have mutual and complicated effects on IUU fishing, eventually hindering the sustainability of marine fisheries. In this situation, the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as China) has tried to undertake some efforts to combat IUU fishing over the past few years using domestic regulation and international cooperation, especially in the South China Sea. This article discusses the seriousness of IUU fishing; examines the causes of IUU fishing in the South China Sea; analyzes why frequent fishing conflicts have increased in the South China Sea; identifies what IUU fishing is, based on its definition in the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU) and in other countries; and examines what actions have been undertaken to prevent IUU fishing in China from international and national perspectives. By analyzing the cause of IUU fishing, identifying its scope and nature, and demonstrating China's position on it, this study aims to prove that China has taken some positive measures to combat IUU fishing in the South China Sea. To promote the sustainable development of fisheries in the South China Sea, uniting China and other South China Sea states against IUU fishing could be an efficient way in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better protect architectural heritage along the Maritime Silk Road, this paper selected Minledou wharf as the research object, field surveys and mapping were carried out; infrared thermal imager photography was conducted, and peeling granite stone samples of cultural heritage were collected on-site for microscope observation, scanning electron microscope, Xray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectrum analysis, and other experiments. The results show that there are six types of damage and weathering on the Minledou wharf. The granite in the wharf's outer layer is mainly composed of potash feldspar, albite, and calcite as cementation materials. The occurrence of damage and weathering is caused by the chemical composition of the stone itself and the chemical, physical, and biological effects of water and acid rain in the preservation environment. The research on the damage and weathering caused by Minledou wharf can lay a solid foundation for the necessary protection of the cultural heritage along the Maritime Silk Road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a regional cooperation framework, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to spur economic development by investing in infrastructure and improving connectivity between the countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa located along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Many studies have documented that BRI-related investment projects reduce trade costs, increase trade and investment flows, bring benefits to trading parties, and improve connectivity between countries along the Belt and Road. Financial integration is a critical aspect of intangible connectivity that is fundamental to and benefits from increased trade and investment flows between countries. This study examines the pairwise correlations between 39 stock markets in the Belt and Road regions from 2008 to 2018, focusing on the correlations between China and the other markets. We find that the correlation between two markets in the same region is greater than those in different regions. China has a higher correlation with markets in Southeast Asia and North and Central Asia than in other regions. The correlations fluctuate over time, but their relative rankings among market pairs remain stable. In the first half of 2015, there was an unusually low correlation between China and all other markets, most likely due to China’s stock market bubble. Our systematic examination of stock market correlations in the Belt and Road regions sheds new light on the temporal and cross-sectional dynamics in these understudied financial markets. The findings suggest significant potential for financial integration in the Belt and Road regions.

Depletion of natural resources is one of the obstacles for coastal countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Assessing the performance in sustainable use of natural resources (SUNR) at the national level is of great significance for MSR countries to meet the SDGs. However, few studies have evaluated the sustainability of MSR countries regarding resource utilization or measured progress against SDGs from the perspective of natural resources. This paper aims to assess national performance in SUNR by proposing an index system based on SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 14 (Life below water), and SDG 15 (Life on land), thereby providing evidence needed for effective resource utilization strategies. Here, the progress of 35 coastal states along the MSR in 2020 is evaluated. Concepts of strong and weak sustainability are introduced, the Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) function and Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) method are used for calculation, and the robustness of the proposed index system is validated by uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. Our results show that scores in the weak sustainability scenario are generally higher than those in the strong sustainability scenario. The significant differences in target (SDG) scores between the two sustainability scenarios reveal the uneven performance across indicators (targets). The relatively low scores of MSR countries in Target 6.3, 6.4, 7.2, 14.5, 14.a, 15.1, and 15.6 suggest that governments should take appropriate actions for improvement. In terms of individual SDGs, Croatia and Italy lead all SDGs, whereas Iran and Somalia lag. As for the overall performance in SUNR, the top five performers are Croatia, Italy, Greece, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore, while Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen rank last. The regional ability of SUNR is, in descending order, Europe, Asia, and Africa, related to the economic development level and resource endowment. The proposed index system is also compared with the actual SDG indices in the United Nations' SDGs Reports. The prime reason for the distinct differences in SDG rankings is that the proposed index system considers some critical issues absent in the actual SDG indices. These findings provide a scientific basis for MSR countries to identify their strengths and deficiencies in resource utilization and provide a reference for improving their resource policies to achieve sustainable development.

Copyright of New Architecture is the property of New Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Europe — Eurasia — Asia. Each continent of the vast continent corresponds to a dominant continental power, respectively Germany — Russia — China; in one of them (China), in the zone of conjugation of the Eurasian and Asian continental civilizations, that is, in the Russian-Chinese borderland, a new regional entity is emerging and developing with the attributes of a maritime civilization.Aim. The aim of the study is to solve the scientific problem of matching the national interests of the two countries within this regional maritime space.Tasks. To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks are being solved: to substantiate the structure of the allocated geopolitical entity and to identify the directions of interaction between the two countries on the basis of coordinating economic and defense activities in the Pacific region.Methods. In this work, the methodological tools of spatial economics and the theory of new economic geography are used, which make it possible to combine geopolitical and economic (geoeconomic) imperatives in a localized space when coordinating joint activities. The core of this formation is the three seas of the Pacific basin adjacent to the territory of China. However, China’s strategic interests extend further, to the north, into the water area of at least two Russian seas. Thus, Russia is also involved in joint maritime activities within the Pacific region.Results. As a result, this creates a space of common national interests, which covers the waters of the five seas and adjacent territories. The regional core of this formation tends to expand, north, east and south, and further west, into the Indian Ocean.Conclusion. The conclusions of the study are that the maritime (more precisely, naval) activities of the two continental powers are essentially becoming the basis of cooperation and cooperation between Russia and China, since Russia can contribute to the implementation of China’s vast national interests only in the defense sphere, providing, in addition, significant, political support for China. As for economic activity, first of all, while meeting the growing demand of the Chinese economy for energy resources (oil, gas and coal), the prospects in this direction lie outside the current planning horizons (until 2035) when implementing large Arctic gas projects. in the water area of the Gulf of Ob “Arctic LNG 1, 2, 3”.

As an important public product, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has been developing well since it was proposed. Global governance is facing new situations and challenges, and the ‘four deficits’ of global governance, namely the peace deficit, the governance deficit, the security deficit, and the development deficit, have come to the fore. As an important element of global governance, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is also faced with challenges. Despite the constraints and hindrances of the ‘four deficits,’ green development is still playing a leading role in promoting proper values and is an important way to promote global governance. This article explores and analyzes the challenges of green development in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. These challenges mainly include the lack of green justice, the deficiencies of green development regulations, the increase in global turmoil, the lack of distributive justice, and the inherent contradiction between economic growth and green development. The causes are ideological influence, interstate game constraints, differences in economic strength, and extensive development patterns. Based on this, this article puts forward the following coping strategies: further promote the development of a human community with a shared future and alleviate the peace deficit; improve the regulations of green development and consolidate the foundation of governance; implement the global security initiative and eliminate security crises; promote green economic growth and tackle the development deficit; and promote marine ecological governance and consolidate the foundation of green development. As a successful model of global governance, the Maritime Silk Road associates it⁃ self with green development and serves as a cornerstone and path to solving the ‘four deficits’ in global governance. China will play a major role as an important participant, contributor, and leader in global governance, propose Chinese wisdom and solutions to alleviate the ‘four deficits’ in global governance, and promote the building of a ‘community of green development.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the Southeast Asian countries are developing economies that have large demand for maritime infrastructures. Some but not all the ports in this region could significantly benefit from and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by the Chinese government. This paper models the port investment priority in the Southeast Asian region, so that efficient and sustainable investments can be made under the BRI. Based on the link prediction theory, a random walk method is proposed to assess the priorities of port construction projects at different sites. The proposed method explicitly considers important economic and political factors, especially those linking Southeast Asian countries with China. Our model is calibrated and verified with numerical experiments, so that policy and managerial recommendations can be obtained for this region. Results consistent with industry reality also provide supports to the validity of the model. This study introduces a new dimension of investment planning for multiple ports taking into account the resultant impacts on shipping networks, and recommends selected port construction sites with good potential in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centrality has always been used in transportation networks to estimate the status and importance of a node in the networks, especially in the shipping networks. However, most of the studies only take the shipping network as an unweighted network or only considering the tie weights in the weighted networks, ignoring the truth that both the number of ties and tie weights contribute to the centrality in weighted shipping networks. Therefore, we proposed a new method combining both the number of ties and tie weights to assess the node centrality based on effective distance by integrating the studies of Opsahl et al., (2010) and Du et al., (2015). An empirical analysis of shipping network at the country level for the 21st-centrtury Maritime Silk Road (MSR) was performed. The result of correlation analysis between country's degree centrality and the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) proved the superiority of our method compared to the traditional centrality metrics. In weighted networks, both the number of ties the tie weights should be considered by adjusting the parameters. The method proposed in this study can also be used to nodes' status and importance estimation of various networks in other fields.

Malaysia-China cooperation since normalization in 1974 has proceeded relatively well for the benefit of both countries. The prior role of Malaysia in offering the “hand of friendship” to China has reflected diplomatic co-existence in mutual trade, regional development and people-to-people relations. However, the close relationship between Malaysia and China has also impacted the position of Malaysia in joining China in the “One Belt One Road” (OBOR), which then changed to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The agenda through the BRI, launched in 2013 under the leadership of Xi Jinping, has mapped out new promising relations in various dimensions (economic, financial, technical, etc.) with Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia through the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road or commonly known as the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The BRI in Malaysia has created different patterns of mutual trust on the developmental scape although there has been little discussion since it was introduced. Therefore, this article intends to fill the gap by providing an analysis on its ongoing cooperation with China since Malaysia signed on to the BRI in 2013. This analysis is placed within the context of the Malaysia-China cooperation before and ongoing projects in BRI, the people-to-people and government-to-government relations in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitics of China’s manoeuvres in the South China Sea. Much needs to be done to strengthen cooperation through the BRI between China and Malaysia particularly as 2023 marks the first decade of this mega project, given the emerging trust deficit in the ASEAN region with regard to China’s strategic goals in her competition with the US for power and influence.

The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is an important channel for maritime trade between China and other countries in the world. Maritime piracy has brought huge security risks to ships’ navigation and has seriously threatened the lives and property of crew members. To reduce the likelihood of attacks from pirates, it is necessary to study the risk to a ship exposed to attacks from pirates on the MSR. Firstly, risk factors were established from three risk component categories (hazard, mitigation capacity, and vulnerability and exposure) and the risk index system of piracy and armed robbery events was founded. Secondly, the dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) method was introduced to establish a pirate attack risk assessment model ad to conduct a quantitative analysis of the process risk of a ship being attacked by pirates. Finally, combined with the scene data of the MSR, the process risk of a ship being attacked by pirates was modeled and applied as an example. The results showed that the overall risk of a ship being attacked by pirates is the lowest in July and the highest in March. In the whole route, when the ship was in the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Aden–Arabian Sea, and the Strait of Malacca, the risk of pirate attack was the highest. This dynamic network model can effectively analyze the level of risk of pirate attacks on ships, providing a reference for the safety decision-making of ships on ocean routes.

Worldwide straits are crucial pathways for global trade and energy transportation, occupying key strategic positions. Therefore, this study utilizes automatic identification system (AIS) data and the structure of the maritime transportation network formed by ship navigation, combined with geospatial big data analysis, to fully consider factors including the natural navigational conditions of routes, the support capabilities of surrounding ports, the geographic advantages of neighboring countries, and the distribution of the shipping network importance in the CCAS evaluation model. To assess the navigability of maritime routes, a data-driven model was constructed using three layers of this model. Empirical analyses were conducted on 22 major routes along China's coast and the "Maritime Silk Road". This method has significantly enhanced the accuracy and reliability of route assessments, and the improved assessment model demonstrated better navigational conditions in the South China Sea routes, identifying internal factors hindering the development of these critical maritime routes. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis framework for global maritime transportation, offering crucial reference information for key stakeholders, including policy makers, port and berth infrastructure investors, maritime economists, and large shipping companies. Additionally, the study's results can be practically applied in the actual shipping trade, emphasizing the role of our framework in facilitating effective decision-making and strategic planning within the maritime industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]