ThisincredibleincreaseintheChineseeconomyhasbroughtaboutunprecedentedlevelsofprosperityandneweconomicvisions, suchastheBeltandRoadinitiative, whichisaimedatinvestinggloballytoincreasetradeanddevelop a 21stcenturyversionofwhatwastheoldSilkRoad.
Essentially, it's a complimentaryinitiativetothemainportionsoftheinitiativeaimedatinvestinginfosteringrelationshipswithothercountrieswhileensuringthatChinesegoodscanbesuppliedglobally.
IfyoudowishtocontinuesailingbyshiptoreachtherestofEurope, geographydoesofferyouanotheroption, butitdoesrequire a slightdetourratherthanheadingstraightinlandtowardstheheartofEuropeToreportlikeTrieste A, yourshipsmayinsteadturneastthroughtheTurkishStraits, passingthroughtheDardanellesandonthroughthebosphorousbeforeenteringtheBlackSea.
Fromhere, shipscancontinuesailingupalongthecoastandintothemouthoftheDanubeRiver, whichwillgrantyourshipsaccesstomuchofEuropethroughcitieslikeBelgrade, Budapest, ViennaandRegensburg.
AndaccordingtoEuropeancanalstandards, theminimumdepthmustbeatleast 4 m, andthetotalwidthofthecanalmustbeatleast 28 m, meaningthatalthoughthisroutecouldmakeuseoftheexistingrivers, therewouldstillbe a lotofworktodotoallowfulloncargoshipstopassthroughin a similarmanner.
IftheChinesehelpedtofund a canalfromtheDanubetotheAegean, itwouldeffectivelygiveshipsmovingbetweentheseasorbetweentheDanubeintheMediterranean, aneasywaytocircumventtheBosphorousforthefirsttimeinhumanhistoryandradicallyalterthegeopoliticalrealityoftheareaforever.
However, asChinalookstoexpandherinfluenceabroadandinfluenceinglobalgeopolitics, wecanexpecthighdollarinfrastructureprojectslikethistohappensomewayoranotheratsomepointinthefuture.