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China has a vastly ambitious plan to connect the world

What is behind the Belt and Road Initiative?

Jul 26th 2018 | XIAMENPrint edition | Briefing

GROWING up in a military dictatorship, Than Swe, a young member of Myanmar’s

business elite, saw the Western world as a protector and model. Even when Western

governments imposed ever-tighter trade and travel bans to punish the junta that

ran his country from 1988 to 2016, Mr Than Swe, along with many compatriots, saw

them as upholders of a moral order. Some swagger about Western values could be

grating. Visiting America as a teenager, Mr Than Swe remembers being

congratulated on reaching a country with good human rights. But as an alternative

to local despotism, the West offered hope.

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