"This week, 37 heads of state and government, as well as 5000 participants from over 150 countries, converged on Beijing for the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum for International Cooperation. The mammoth gathering of dignitaries and policymakers is crucial for the five-year-old BRI to gain wider recognition and power to move onto the next cycle with new lessons learned and adjustments made. For President Xi Jinping, it will be a moment of truth for his leadership and China’s dream. All ASEAN leaders, comprising one-quarter of top global leaders, were to attend the forum, which is a testimony to each member’s support and commitment to the global scheme and ongoing projects in their own countries. Since Thailand is also an early BRI backer and one of its recipients, increased attention has begun to focus on its marathon negotiations with China over the US$12 billion (K18.2 trillion) high-speed railway project, which began with much fanfare at the end of 2015. China watchers are eager to know what challenges and prospects both sides faced over the past four years with their unsettling deal and ever-changing criteria. Are there lessons to be drawn from the Sino-Thai negotiations? From the beginning, repeated criticism has been heaped on China’s continent-wide BRI. Among key allegations was the toxic “debt trap” for recipient countries and Beijing’s desire to expand its geopolitical influence to challenge the West. Examples from Africa and South Asia were highlighted as the BRI’s dark side..."