The Belt and Road Initiative and Autocracy Promotion as Elements of China’s Grand Strategy

This chapter analyses the role of autocracy promotion in China’s grand strategy and the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in this context. Both the BRI and autocracy promotion can be considered tools Beijing uses to undermine the liberal international order. China does not engage in obvious activities to export its political system. Rather, its efforts are aimed at preventing the spread of Western democracy in its immediate vicinity, with the aims of guaranteeing the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, and ultimately, undermining the liberal values at the heart of the current international order. The BRI has a dual role in realising China’s grand strategy: it expands Beijing’s power projection and strengthens autocracy in its sphere of influence