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Video description:
A recent Al Mayadeen TV presentation illustrating the major infrastructural projects that China is proposing to build in Lebanon.
Whether these projects actually reach fruition or not hinges upon a greater consensus within the Lebanese political establishment.
However, the deteriorating socio-economic situation in the country is reducing the credibility of pro-American parties who have long argued Lebanon’s prosperity is dependent upon the benevolence of Washington, Europe, and the Arab Gulf states.
Source: Al Mayadeen News
Date: June 18, 2020
Read Transcript:
News presenter:
Welcome (to the show). China’s interest in Lebanon in terms of investment, development and economic support has passed the stage of general ideas and entered the stage of offering actual projects with clear titles, specific places and budgets allocated for their implementation. (Today) we will get to know the details (of these projects).
To start with, the bids for investments from Chinese companies interested in Lebanon amount to more than 12 billion US dollars, which means that they exceed the total of what the CEDRE conference can secure. This amount (of money) includes the implementation of nine major projects starting with railways.
The Chinese are committed to building not one railway that extends along the coastline, but an integrated (train) network that connects Lebanon from the north to the south. This plan is complemented by an offer to rehabilitate and manage a seaport.
Regarding the electricity (shortage), the Chinese plan to build fuel or gas-fired power plants, and plan to construct solar power facilities, which studies have suggested could be built and generated along the length of the Litani River and its dams, in addition to other areas.
China gives great attention to the Litani River in terms of cleaning it and tackling the pollution that has made the river water and its banks uninhabitable. It also seeks to turn the river into a source of development and expansion for agricultural production.
As for the (garbage) waste file, the Chinese suggest advanced solutions to the growing crisis by building plants for waste sorting, treatment and recycling in order to stop the depletion (of resources) and fight pollution.
In light of the growing US dollar war on Lebanon and the region, this Chinese interest comes as a step in “The Belt and Road Initiative” launched by China seven years ago to reestablish the Silk Road from the east to the ancient West and Africa by constructing rail, air and maritime transport lines that extend from the South China Sea, to London in the north, and Johannesburg in southernmost point of Africa.
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