Recently, the fifth meeting of the Advisory Committee of the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing. In an exclusive interview, Kishore Mahbubani, former dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, expressed his affirmation of the fruitful achievements of the the Belt and Road Initiative in the past 10 years. He also pointed out that one of the major challenges facing the the Belt and Road Initiative in the future is that the United States and other western countries oppose or are unwilling to participate.

Kishore Mahbubani, former dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore: One of the major challenges facing the the Belt and Road Initiative in the future is that the United States and other western countries oppose or are unwilling to participate. We are entering a new era in Human history. In a multi civilization and multipolar world, the West must learn how to better cooperate with these 88% of people. I think we can learn from the success of the the Belt and Road and try to emulate it.

In recent years, the United States and Europe have successively introduced multiple global infrastructure plans, including the Rebuild a Better World Plan and the Global Gateway Plan. Kishore Mahbubani said that this is the best praise for the the Belt and Road Initiative. But infrastructure construction is not a zero sum game. The United States and Europe should also learn from China how to deliver projects in record time to help more people.

In response to the speculation of Western individuals about the the Belt and Road Initiative as the so-called Debt trap, Kishore Mahbubani pointed out that the term Debt trap is an insult to the wisdom of the third world countries and a way for the West to show its superiority. Fortunately, some American and Western scholars have provided good evidence in academic Peer review papers to prove that the the Belt and Road Initiative is not the so-called Debt trap.Editor/Ma Xue