Social Sciences in China, 2018

Vol. 39, No. 4, 2018

 

Strategic Mutual Trust from the Perspective of Spatial Blending

(Abstract)

 

Zhan Xiaomei and Wang Shimin

 

As global, regional, national, local and other spatial forms become mutually embedded and interwoven, a new anti-globalization force is shaping a “reverse globalization trend” in an attempt to go beyond the integrated “capital-production-market” model established in the previous globalization era. Amid continuous social change, economic space has seen a reassertion of trade protectionism, while political space is facing the rise of populist parties. Britain’s exit from European Union has dealt a heavy blow to the process of European integration, once again empowering national and local levels through traditional sentiments and redefining the international order in the new era of globalization. In this new era, as global economic integration slows down, the Chinese plan of the Belt and Road Initiative focuses on building a “community of shared future for mankind,” “with unwavering efforts to advance and guide economic globalization trends.” Its open and inclusive strategic content; its strategic orientation of mutual learning; and its strategic aim of development and coexistence on an economic basis under political intermediation and through the guidance of culture highlight the integration of economic space, mutual trust in political space, and inclusiveness incultural space. The spatial extension of the strategic mutual trust of the Belt and Road Initiative originates in rational reflection on fundamental emotional expectations; instrumental sharing of benefit; emotional involvement; and value judgments. Based on the fact that the population along its route are recipients of the values of strategic mutual trust and also makers of its meanings, we can divide the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative into cultural resonance zones, zones that activate the interests of different parties, and zones that promote identification, combining regional nodes and cooperative content. In order to enhance the degree of congruence of strategic mutual trust, we should disseminate these values in a way that combines charm, comprehensiveness and accuracy.

 

Keywords: new era of globalization, Belt and Road Initiative, strategic mutual trust, spatial extension