Conclusion It would not be surprising to discover that the trade routes between China and the West were opened many centuries, even millennia, earlier than 200 B.C., contrary to what is currently believed. █████ ████ ████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ █ █████ █████ ███████ █████ ███ ███ ████████████ ████████ ██████ ███████████ ████████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████████████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████ ███ ███ ████████ █████████ ██ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ██████ █████ ███ ████ █████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ █████ ████
The author concludes that trade routes between China and the West may have opened earlier than 200 B.C. To support this claim, the author highlights the benefits of the Silk Road as a trade route: level terrain, easily traversable mountain passes, and desert oases. The author claims that in addition to facilitating trade, these benefits would have also facilitated immigration from Africa and the Middle East to China. Since this migration began at least one million years ago, it is possible that the Silk road had opened earlier than 200 B.C.
The claim in the question stem provides support for the possibility that the trade routes had opened before 200 B.C.
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