Even with sketchy financial information, research academics agree that China’s island building in the Spratly archipelago is a multi-billion-dollar undertaking. Some estimates note that building up Fiery Cross island alone, with its three-kilometre runway and military facilities including missile and radar installations, have cost around US$11 billion. But this is the pointed-end of the spear, and it is only one part of China’s global expansion plans.What about their soft power initiatives?

Both by design and proximity, China has had an immense influence on the Southeast Asian region.

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) celebrates its fifth anniversary this month. The euphoria that initially followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement in Kazakhstan and Indonesia has somewhat faded.In its place is a West-driven narrative of a debt-trap; an “insidious plot” by China for global domination where the world’s second largest economy strikes opaque deals and inflates the value of projects, leaving poorer countries unable to repay their debts.

Over the past 15 years, China has fuelled one of the most dramatic and geographically far-reaching surges in official peacetime lending in history. More than one hundred predominantly low-income countries have taken out Chinese loans to finance infrastructure projects, expand their productive capacity in mining or other primary commodities, or support government spending in general.But the size of this lending wave is not its most distinctive feature.

China's massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) building push may create debt risks but is also responding to major infrastructure gaps in Asia and could boost global trade, World Bank officials say.The relatively upbeat assessment of a sometimes-controversial programme comes despite the debt crisis now faced by Pakistan, a recipient of massive Chinese loans.China launched the ambitious plan in 2013 under President Xi Jinping, seeking to link Asia, Europe and Africa with a network of port

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was intended to empower developing countries with improved infrastructure and trade relations. In the five years since it was mooted, the BRI is now being demonised as a debt-trap that ensnares poor nations into subservience to China. Another unintended consequence is its alleged connection to corruption.Infrastructure projects are notoriously vulnerable to corruption, featuring inflated costs and kickbacks.

Similar to its Southeast Asian counterparts, Indonesia is carrying out ambitious infrastructure projects to transform and modernise the nation. The upgrading of Indonesia’s infrastructure is part of President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) Nawa Cita programme – a nine-pillar programme to develop Indonesia. Roughly translated as “Nine Hopes”, the President introduced the agenda when he was elected as the republic’s president in 2014.

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) celebrates its fifth anniversary this month. The euphoria that initially followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement in Kazakhstan and Indonesia has somewhat faded. In its place is a West-driven narrative of a debt-trap: an “insidious plot” by China for world domination where China strikes opaque deals and inflates the value of projects, leaving poorer countries unable to repay their debts.

Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is slated to be an arterial node for trade, investment, and regional transportation, besides also serving as a strategic gateway to the Southeast Asian region.

Strategists in the West fear that China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI) is a vast, well-laid and finely orchestrated plan to extend Chinese hegemony over much of the developing world. They should be afraid of something else: It’s nothing of the sort.What many outsiders have missed is that the BRI is a vision, not a plan.