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Study Times: China Should Develop a Silk Road Economic Zone

According to an article published by Study Times, for China to develop the Silk Road economic zone (Silk Road Belt), the selection of routes is a matter of control and dominance and should be based on a consideration of China’s long term “strategic need for national rejuvenation.” 

The Silk Road Belt may have five routes. Starting from the north, the first route is the Eurasian Continental Bridge followed by the second route, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge North line. These are the northern routes. The third route is from central Asia, Iran, Turkey, and Europe (Africa), the main trunk of the ancient Silk Road. This is the central route. The fourth and fifth are the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which are the southern routes. All things considered, the central route has obvious advantages. 
The breakthrough for the central route will be to advocate building a Civilization Rejuvenation Community (CRC). As there are many ancient civilizations along the central route, the common denominator is civilization rejuvenation. At one time or another, they were prosperous, bullied by super powers, suffered the pains of marginalization, experienced clashes between domestic values and Western values, and shared similar development problems and a desire to accelerate economic development. They all resonate with strong ethnic revival. Building the CRC along the central route will revitalize our relations with these countries and enhance China’s International Discourse Right. 

Source: Study Times, March 24, 2014 
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140324/4258.shtml