Ten years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued an “edict” to create a global network of infrastructure, commerce and communication initially labeled “One Belt One Road”.
Later dubbed “The New Silk Road,” the project reminded some of China’s 13th century Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, who ordained the building of Xanadu, a vanity palace which the French call “une folie”.
Although similar in method by using an edict or “tughra” in the Mongolian language, Kublai’s vanity project is dwarfed by Xi’s folie, which is supposed to encompass every county on earth.
