Be it 5G, smart cities, or the Great Firewall – China has also caused a stir in the digital space in recent years. Digital infrastructure and tech products have become export hits like airports, roads, and ports. But is China building a digital Silk Road? The new book by Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggests this with the book’s title (The Digital Silk Road – China’s Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future). After about 350 pages, the reader learned many exciting details of China’s digital rise. But his picture of a digital Silk Road and its implications often remains vague.