People walk past a decorative installation for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Sunday in Beijing. VCG via Getty Images hide caption
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Belt and Road Initiative
An unfinished bus terminal that will be joined with the East Coast Rail Link in Malaysia. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption
Malaysia's a big draw for China's Belt and Road plans. Finishing them is another story
China's New Silk Road project is lending out billions to countries in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa to build and upgrade railways, ports, pipelines, power grids and highways. Above: A Kenya Railways train pulls shipping containers as it departs from the Mombasa port station. Luis Tato/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
People welcoming China's ship Yuan Wang 5 wave Chinese and Sri Lankan flags at Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port in Sri Lanka, Aug. 16. Ajith Perera/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images hide caption
Why a Chinese ship's arrival in Sri Lanka has caused alarm in India and the West
Last year, President Biden announced "Build Back Better World," meant to compete with China's Belt and Road Initiative. This year at the G-7, Biden will unveil the first projects. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Biden said the G-7 would counter Chinese influence. This year, he'll try again
A train is ready on the station during the handover ceremony of the high-speed rail project in Vientiane, Laos, connecting the city with Kunming, China, on Dec. 3, 2021. Phoonsab Thevongsa/Reuters hide caption
With U.S. focused on defense, China's trade and infrastructure sweep Southeast Asia
An aerial view shows part of a highway near Podgorica, the capital of Montenegros. The highway project, constructed by a large Chinese state-owned company, risks derailing Montenegro's economy. Savo Prelevic/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
How A Chinese-Built Highway Drove Montenegro Deep Into Debt
President Biden meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G-7 summit. A White House official said Biden did a lot of "diplomatic speed-dating" with world leaders. Official Photo/Getty Images hide caption
TEMP CAPTION Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
China has built a massive international shipping port a few miles from the old fishing port of Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Lauren Frayer/NPR hide caption
In Sri Lanka, China's Building Spree Is Raising Questions About Sovereignty
A Chinese-backed power plant under construction in 2018 in the desert in the Tharparkar district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province. Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Giant concrete pylons rise from the Mekong River north of Luang Prabang, where a bridge is under construction. Ashley Westerman/NPR hide caption
Japanese troops enter Manchuria in 1933. Tokyo sent soldiers and settlers to Manchuria and exerted direct and indirect influence there. Japanese official publications treated Manchuria's people much in the same way as China's Xinhua News Agency now treats those of Xinjiang and Tibet. Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images hide caption
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with President Trump during a joint statement in Beijing last November. Rather than a frontal assault on U.S. leadership, Xi has articulated his vision of a "community of shared destiny." Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Chinese Firms Now Hold Stakes In Over A Dozen European Ports
People cheer and throw confetti after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta flags off a cargo train for its inaugural journey to Nairobi last year at the port of the coastal town of Mombasa. Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A New Chinese-Funded Railway In Kenya Sparks Debt-Trap Fears
Chinese border patrol gunboats come downriver from the Yunnan province about once a month in a show of force to keep the Mekong River safe, as China's Xinhua News Agency puts it. Michael Sullivan for NPR hide caption
China Reshapes The Vital Mekong River To Power Its Expansion
Honor guards attend a flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square in 2017. Under President Xi Jinping, China has ambitiously pressed its advantage almost everywhere at once. VCG via Getty Images hide caption