Attempting to break new ground, China implemented its One Belt One Road Strategy in late 2013. Later renamed The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the massive infrastructure plan sought to physically connect major industrial hubs in China to the European market with train tracks, as well as through various other sea and air pathways. Naturally, it was lauded by many at the time as a bold, revolutionary, and tenacious plan that could potentially improve all parties involved. This strategy by China was quickly embraced globally and to-date has brought about multiple different infrastructure projects in multiple different countries across the globe. However, much of the applause for the project came before the actuality of the project came to light. Critics point out that the entire project has essentially become a form of debt-trapping diplomacy by the Chinese Communist Party in their efforts to expand their superpower status, or perhaps even drive towards hegemony.

Due in part to the turbulent times during the Trump administration, the diplomatic relations between the United States and Europe went cold compared to the previous administration. Europe at the time was essentially caught between a rock and a hard place. Do they work with the Trump administration, or do they work with China, or perhaps Russia? The answer at the time was that many European countries, including members of the European Union, went full-steam-ahead into the BRI. Then the Covid-19 pandemic began and relations between the world and China immediately fell off a cliff.