Workshop: 'One Belt, One Road: Security Dimensions' (London)

Venue: SW1.09 & 1.10, Somerset House West Wing, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
Date:
12 October 2016
Organising Institutions: London Asia Pacific Centre for Social Science (KCL & SOAS); Lau China Institute (KCL); College of Europe (Bruges)

​Bringing together academics and practitioners from London and Brussels, this will be one of the first workshops to explore the different security dimensions of the major Chinese foreign policy initiative under President XI Jinping. The first panel will examine the impact of 'One Belt, One Road' (OBOR) on different regions, including Africa, Central Asia, Middle East and the South China Sea. The second panel will focus on European security, looking at energy, investment and trade. The proceedings are likely to be published in a special issue of the Asia-Europe journal. The topics under discussion feed into the participants' ongoing research and will provide the basis for further output. It is envisaged that a return workshop hosted by the College of Europe will be held in Brussels in 2017.

10:30-12:00: Panel 1: OBOR and Europe's security

Chair: Yifan YANG(KCL)

  • ‘The Belt Road Initiative: What's in it for Europe – political and economic implications’, Kerry BROWN(KCL)
  • ‘OBOR: Two new Silk Road trade routes or a therapy for overcapacity’, Jie YU(LSE)
  • ‘Finance and the Belt Road Initiative: Financial opportunities and challenges for Europe’, Ramon PACHECO PARDO (KCL)
  • ‘EU-China energy cooperation in OBOR: Drivers and challenges’, Kaho YU(Chinese University of Hong Kong)

12:00-13:00: Lunch

13:00-14:30: Panel 2: OBOR and Regional security

Chair: Tat Yan KONG(SOAS)

  • ‘How Europeans and Chinese perceive the South China Sea issue’, Jing MEN(College of Europe) & Michael REITERER(European External Action Service)
  • ‘Economic, social and security dimensions of China's Belt Road Initiative for Central Asian states’, Bhavna DAVE& Yuka KOBAYASHI(SOAS),
  • ‘Linking China to the Middle East: OBOR and its security amid chaos’, Hai YANG(University of Leuven)
  • ‘OBOR and Africa’s security’, Hongsheng SHENG(Shanghai University of Political Science and Law)

14:30-15:30: Output discussion (for speakers only)