Xi's Silk Road Dream for China Hits a Speed-Bump in Thailand

President Xi Jinping is so devoted to his Silk Road project for China to deepen economic ties across Asia that he recently had top Communist officials attend a "study" session on the millennia-old history of the route.

References to the initiative, launched by Xi in 2013 and known as the "belt and road" plan, have become ubiquitous in China, down to even in-flight magazines on its aircraft. As part of the Communist party boss’s vision of moving China beyond a century of humiliation at the hands of foreigners, the plan would strengthen trade and investment ties, especially with central and southeast Asian neighbors.