Biden’s Blue Dot seeks to derail China’s Belt and Road

MANILA – Amid an escalating new Cold War, the Biden administration is mobilizing allies and partners to slow China’s technological strides and arrest its rising global influence.

In particular, the US has doubled down on reviving the so-called Blue Dot Network, a long-dormant initiative launched by the previous Trump administration to counter Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

“The Blue Dot Network will be a globally recognized symbol of market-driven, transparent and sustainable infrastructure projects,” the US State Department said after the consultation group’s inaugural meeting in Paris earlier this week. 

Aside from major Western governments and Japan, leading academics, civil society leaders and as many as 150 global executives boasting a US$12 trillion in their combined portfolio were in attendance, underscoring the breadth and ambition behind the initiative. 

To counter what critics see as China’s predatory trade practices, the Biden administration has also launched a “supply chain trade strike force,” which will be led by the US Trade Representative.