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Monday, February 24, 2020

Trade Follows the Flu?

The Wuhan Flu coronavirus could really destroy any hope of expanding China's soft power via their so-called New Silk Road infrastructure project. China hoped that trade will follow their flag, but trade will not follow the flu.

With Italy oddly seeing a lot of the coronavirus hitting them, it actually isn't that odd since the Chinese One Belt One Road project (the current name for the New Silk Road) goes into the Mediterranean Sea.


Italy is on that route. Is this why Italy has been hit hard? And I wouldn't be surprised if Greece is being hit hard but we don't know it yet. If so, those migrant camps like the Lesbos entry point could become deadly if the virus reaches them.

A lot of poor countries have accepted China's offer of loans and construction to be part of China's ambitious project to build Chinese-controlled trade routes. They are extremely vulnerable to the virus raging out of control once it hits them. Will China be the one to help them cope with this epidemic?

I hope this is contained--and soon. But if it isn't how many countries will be eager to invite China into their country going forward? Or even allow them to stay? This would be a convenient excuse for countries having second thoughts about the wisdom of the debt trap they signed up for.

China is going to have to rebrand their One Belt One Road trade infrastructure/loan capture project to the One Virus One Epidemic project.