HO CHI MINH CITY -- Chinese blue-and-white porcelain first hauled along the Silk Routes to Europe proved so popular with British consumers that by the late 1800s the phenomenon spawned a nickname: "Chinamania." Today, the China obsession has a darker shade, as European and Pacific powers compete with Beijing's "new Silk Road" infrastructure projects -- and offer their Asian trade partners an alternative.
Group of Seven countries and democratic allies like Australia are dangling infrastructure support in Southeast Asia as an alternative to China's Belt and Road. © Nikkei illustration
Asia Insight
China's ASEAN Silk Road gets slippery as other powers move in
U.S., Europe, India join battle to build regional supply chains from Thailand to Vietnam
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