Abstract
Since China announced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, it has successively devised many supporting initiatives, include the “Health Silk Road”, the “Green Silk Road”, and the “Digital Silk Road”. In 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) officially released a document which stated that China should “build bilateral cross-border optical cable networks”, “plan transcontinental submarine optical cable projects”, and improve “satellite information passageways” to create the “Digital Silk Road”. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum for International Cooperation in 2017, calling on Chinese tech companies to act as extensions of the Chinese government in overseas technology markets. In view of the fact that China’s Digital Silk Road is about to reach its 10th anniversary, this paper mainly examines its current development and future perspectives. Digital connectivity links BRI countries closely with China via information and communication technologies (ICT). It can be seen that the rise of the Digital Silk Road has significantly shifted the focus of BRI because it has not only expanded China’s influence from physical to virtual reality but is also helping Beijing achieve technological independence at home while moving it toward the center of global networks. Some critics say that the Digital Silk Road represents Beijing’s export of a model of authoritarian governance which is at odds with international human rights and internet freedom principles through greater censorship and surveillance. China will continue to focus on and cultivate emerging regions with the intention of mastering digital power and attempt to become a standard setter in the field of strategic digital economy. Without a doubt, it will also constantly face alternative options from other democratic countries as a counterweight to the Digital Silk Road.