whether china does this because they cannot transition into services quickly enough and they need to manufacture a new capital stream to purchase their own products or because of some benevolent world connection plan is largely inconsequential, where there is political will there is a way.

a) china offers to triple your standard of living in the next decade through a massive transnational infrastructure project that will allow increased trade and job opportunities, growing local export sectors and connecting you into the largest economic region in the world.

b) continue to be brain drained by germany and scandinavia while their large agrobusiness interests buy your farmland on the cheap and create a monoculture base of gmo exports to feed their growing welfare states, in the name of human rights and european unity of course.

this is going to be a hard choice for easte-.... western eurasia. crimea and syria are just russia and america trying to get a station on this supercontinental train. the general tone towards china's plans, reminds me of the attitude towards japan and the shinkansen project in the 60s. sometimes pragmatic long term thinking beats moonshots. a traveler in 2050 will likely be on a high speed train from europe to asia than on a spaceship to low earth orbit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3LLgzO_PrI