China’s Belt and Road Initiative as a Strategy for Hegemonic Contestation in the Indo-Pacific Region

Abstract

This article examines China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a strategic
instrument in its efforts to challenge the existing hegemonic order in the IndoPacific region. Amid growing geopolitical rivalry, particularly with the United
States and its allies, China has employed the BRI not merely as an economic
development scheme, but as a tool of influence projection, regional integration,
and soft power consolidation. Using a qualitative-descriptive approach and
critical geopolitical analysis, this study explores how China’s BRI projects 
ranging from infrastructure development to digital connectivity are reshaping
regional power dynamics. The research finds that China’s approach blends
economic diplomacy with strategic interest, fostering dependencies and
influence in key Indo-Pacific states. However, the implementation of BRI also
encounters resistance in the form of debt-trap diplomacy allegations,
environmental critiques, and counter-initiatives like the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific
Strategy. The article concludes that the BRI is central to China’s vision of a
Sinocentric order, signaling a shift from unipolar to multipolar geopolitical
competition in the Indo-Pacific.