China’s 'Belt and Road' push brings risks, rewards to Mideast
China's digital and satellite advances offer new regional opportunities and challenges for the United States in countering Beijing's economic influence in the region.
With the launch of the final satellite of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) into orbit in late June, China has finally completed its quest to become a space power. Introduced in 2015, the BeiDou satellite navigation network is part of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), a digital corridor of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Completed six months ahead of schedule, the system is an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia’s GLONASS and Europe’s Galileo.
In the Middle East region, eight satellites from the BeiDou system were already providing navigational services to Arab states, according to a report presented at the Second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum held in Tunis last year.
BeiDou satellite coverage has been offered to countries participating in the BRI megaproject, and Arab countries were among the first to have access to the facility as they are also members of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and the Strategic Dialogue between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Basically, according to Beijing, “Any type of bilateral cooperation [with China] can be considered part of the Belt and Road.”
