dc.description.abstract | Chinese information communication technology (ICT) multinational corporations (MNCs) have
built the backbone infrastructure used by millions of internet users across Africa and the world
(Cisse, 2012; Oreglia, 2012; Gagliardone, 2019). The global presence of Chinese tech firms is set
to increase with the Digital Silk Road (DSR), the digital component of the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI). Introduced in 2015 by an official Chinese white paper, the DSR operates under a complex
web of nonbinding soft law instruments such as Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) and policy
documents. Like the BRI, the DSR has largely been an umbrella term for virtually any
telecommunications or data-related business operation, or product sold by China-based tech firms
(Greene and Triolo, 2019). With dozens of BRI projects put on hold due to the logistical
disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the DSR has gained greater importance in Beijing’s
global projections... | en_US |