The Fox and The Dragon : Proyek Kereta Cepat (HSR) Laos Sebagai Strategi “Bandwagoning for Profit”

Abstract

In 2013, China announces a mega project called Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI). This mega
project contain an investment up to US$ 1,6 trillion, in a bid to increase connectivity between
Asia, Europe, and Africa. This research aims to review one of BRI projects in Laos, which is
HSR (High Speed Rail). The HSR run between Kunming and Vientiane, with investment up to
US$ 6 billion. Many views that this project is nothing but a waste and unnecessary. The
burden of debt that Laos had from this project alarmed several entities, such as the World
Bank, and Asian Development Bank. For this project, Laos must contribute in a staggering
amount of US$715 million, many were acquired with loans from China. It is not mentioned if
Laos can’t repay the debt. Nowadays, China is Laos’s biggest trading partner. In the
presence of a rail connection, it is possible that Laos fall into economic dependency with
China. This research aims to prove Laos using bandwagoning as a strategy to gain economic
benefits. This is a qualitative research, with congruent method. The hyphotesis of this
research is Laos doing bandwagoning for economic gain. Laos is considered as Jackals in
Schweller’s category. Laos take such big risk to increase what it achieved, a big economic
growth. The result of this research is the hyphotesis is not fully true, as Laos considered as
Fox, not Jackals.