Washington
US President Joe Biden said he suggested to Boris Johnson in a phone call on Friday that they should have a massive infrastructure plan to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative.
The US president, in his second call with the British Prime Minister since taking office, said he was concerned that Beijing’s project would significantly expand its economic and political influence.
“I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative, pulling from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world that, in fact, need help,” Mr Biden told reporters.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure scheme launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping involving development and investment initiatives that would stretch from East Asia to Europe.
Mr Biden said in his first full press briefing with reports on Thursday that the world was going through a “fourth industrial revolution” and that Beijing was looking to assert global dominance.
“I see stiff competition with China,” the president said. “They have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch.”
Mr Biden plans to unveil a multi-trillion-dollar plan to upgrade US infrastructure next week.
He said on Thursday this would ensure increased US investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.—Agencies
