
TOKYO -- A U.S.-led scheme to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative remains in the embryonic stage -- six years after Beijing unveiled its grand infrastructure plan with great fanfare.
The U.S., Japan and Australia unveiled the Blue Dot Network at a summit in Bangkok earlier this month. The initiative is not intended to be a financing pipeline. Instead, it will evaluate infrastructure projects according to standards set by a steering committee of government agencies, development finance institutions and the private sector.