But regardless of how reassuring the Chinese official rhetoric sounds, it is inevitable that some analysts will view the Belt and Road as a geopolitical strategy. Most importantly, economic interests—though couched in terms of mutual benefit and prosperity—are geopolitical interests. As Chinese investment—by state-owned or private actors—in and trade with foreign countries increase, so do its geopolitical interests in those countries. One can certainly have geopolitical interests without economic interests, but economic interests are necessarily geopolitical interests.
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