China's disregard for the human rights of its own citizens not surprisingly extends to the rights of the citizens of its host nations. The 93-year-old Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appears to have done something that legions of critics have been largely unable to do and that is to awaken suspicion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is leading a long list of nations into what has been called a debt trap. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas. Xi quickly followed the overland BRI with a maritime version, presumably to connect Chinese ports on the South China Sea to seaports in the Indian Ocean, continuing on to the Middle East states and ultimately reaching European ports. Let us not forget China amassing wealth through currency manipulation. They argue that China should work to bring other countries into their investment programs to spread debt more equally, and adopt stricter standards and more transparency about how sustainable its support for developing economies really is. The Center for Global Development, a non-profit research organization, analyzed debt to China that will be incurred by nations participating in the current Belt and Road investment plan. In the US "dumping" is selling products for less than they're worth. A new, particularly ominous Western criticism is that China distributes its facial recognition technology to BRI-affiliated countries where Chinese surveillance systems have been installed, in states such as Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. A few of these bilateral packages appear contrived to imprison already impoverished states into realms of permanent economic vassalage to China. Now Xi's grand thoroughfares are global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves. China and Ethiopia are two of the countries that have big plans for the Doraleh Container Terminal, ... Pacific islands avoid China's 'debt-trap' diplomacy for now. According to research conducted as part of the Jubilee Debt Campaignin October 2018, African countries owed China US$10 bi… Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy proposal has been the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) commercial and strategic program. China and many African nations have had a long history of solid political and economic ties. Ecuador, in the first full year of Xi's presidency, already was exporting 90% of its oil to China, perhaps even below the world market price. Since 2000, African countries have rapidly increased their borrowing from China, totaling US$94.5 billion up to 2014, as they seek to end their dependence on the IMF and World Bank, who demand market liberalisation in exchange for loans. A few of these bilateral packages appear contrived to imprison already impoverished states into realms of permanent economic vassalage to China. Rafizadeh recently received a summons notice to begin her sentence, and will be forced to leave her six-year-old son behind. Is this an example of communists trying to outdo the capitalists they vilify? China gave a loan to the Sri Lankan government through the Exim Bank of China to build the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport. said a sea captain who asked not to be named. Pictured: Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army at the opening ceremony of China's military base in Djibouti, on August 1, 2017. Our emails are made to shine in your inbox, with something fresh every morning, afternoon, and weekend. However, Sri Lanka owes more to Japan than to China, which holds only 3 percent of its debt. The BRI networks clearly intend to benefit China, either by stimulating an enormous increase in commerce, or, when debts cannot be repaid, by appropriating whatever assets China selects. The editors reserve the right not to publish comments containing: incitement to violence, profanity, or broad-brush slurring of any race, ethnic group or religion. Increasing debt, and China’s role in managing bilateral debt problems, has already exacerbated internal and bilateral tensions in some BRI countries, such as Sri Lanka, where citizens have regularly clashed with police over a new industrial zone surrounding Hambantota port, 3. and Pakistan, where Chinese officials openly But luckily the Federal Australian Government will tear up this shameful deal with China. While some of China's infrastructure projects are beneficial but costly -- such as the construction of a rail line in Kenya from the capital Nairobi to the main port of Mombasa -- others are "white elephants." Sri Lanka became the poster child of allegations that China was pursuing debt trap diplomacy two years ago when it surrendered control of the port to China as part of a deal to reduce the country’s debt payments. China, as the world's largest importer of oil, will be able to diversify its sources of petroleum as a consequence of several bilateral BRI deals. Commenters' email addresses will not be displayed publicly. "Why is that their goal? All rights reserved. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. Phillip Orchard - September 13, 2018. A Chinese built seaport and special economic zone in the Pakistani town of Gwadar is rooted in trade, giving China a quicker route to get goods to the Arabian Sea. In the past, China has responded to the debtors inconsistently and hasn’t followed best practices adopted by international lenders working with poor countries. Lots of poison fruit falling from a poisoned tree. Please limit comments to 300 words or less. Putting pressure on China's finances. Seven years after the Chinese leader unveiled his vision of a modern Silk Road connecting continents, the future of travel and trade is uncertain because of China origin Coronavirus. "They just pull up everything!" The Chinese Communist Party's Belt and Road Initiative is red colonialism and slavery on monumental scale. Longer submissions are unlikely to be published. This website uses cookies to provide you with better services. To find out more, please review our Privacy and Cookies Policy. Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves. This "New Silk Road," like its predecessor, would traverse the vast steppes of Central Asia -- but the contemporary BRI is allegedly meant to serve also as an economic boon for all the countries along the route. One such marginally useful project is a road built by Chinese engineers from Uganda's capital Kampala to the country's international airport at Entebbe. These are Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives. Further, The World Bank (2018) lists the potential opportunities of the Belt and Road as: 12% reduction in travel times (through corridor countries), 2.7-9.7% increase in trade between China and her neighbours, and the lifting of over 7.3 million people from … Both reserve the right not to publish replies to articles should they so choose. It has certainly filled the vacuum created by a shrinking American presence in global institutions. Sometimes, the debt has been forgiven; other times, disputed territory or control of infrastructure has been demanded as recompense. Now Djibouti, home to the US military’s main base in Africa, looks about to cede control of another key port to a Beijing-linked company, and the US is not happy about it. BRI projects seem not designed so much to win new friends as to win new dependents, especially in areas either neglected by the West or in the Western sphere of influence. The objectives of China's global BRI programs are clearly as much strategic and political as they are economic. Like when they delivered a fleet of snow plows to the Republic of Guinea, which did not have areas that they could have been used, if they had roads to get them there, instead the plows just stayed in port rusting out on the beach. After Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Venezuela appears to be the latest in the list of nations staggering under the shadow of China’s crippling debts. When Beijing settles on an infrastructure project, large numbers of Chinese workers arrive in the host country, establish their own living area, complete the project and then leave. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. In those countries, China has vastly improved their living standards, building roads, railways, hospital and power infrastructure and giving employment. Beijing has invested in Zimbabwe in Africa, Laos in Southeast Asia, and Venezuela in South America. The Chinese, with abusive labor laws, underpays workers, out sells under priced items to destroy manufacturing capacity in other countries. We experienced this tragically in the 1930's and now we are living through the immensely destructive consequences from the deadly threat of a hubristic totalitarian regime. Of course threats to democracy are a concern.But we must also remember that pandemics such as the current SARS-Cov-2 are part of the puzzle.With the major rains and flooding that China experienced, including flooding of Wuhan, once the waters subside, the vegetation and ecology are likely to explode, including the food of the horseshoe bats that harbour the Coronovirus with downstream consequences, unless control measures are in place. China sinks its claws into cash-strapped countries, and they won't be letting go any time soon...Do you have questions for Chris? Appeasement never works. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroom—defining topics of seismic importance to the global economy. © 2021 Gatestone Institute. The poor counties take out loans what they cannot afford. Countries with the largest Chinese debt include Angola at US$25 billion, Ethiopia at US$13.5 billion, Zambia at US$7.4 billion, Congo at US$7.3 billion, and Sudan at US$6.4 billion. © 2021 Quartz Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Gatestone Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, Federal Tax ID #454724565. In Sri Lanka, acrimony remains around Hambantota and projects like “the world’s emptiest airport.”. Sri Lanka, for instance, after having failed to meet its debt obligations to China, ceded the port of Hambantota to Beijing. The record for annual losses was previously held by Qinghai Salt Lake Industry, which reported a loss of 45.9 billion yuan for 2019.More from South China Morning Post:HNA Group’s leader Gu Gang rallies staff after conglomerate enters bankruptcy restructuring, saying light is at the end of tunnelHNA Group enters bankruptcy restructuring as China’s largest asset buyer succumbs to debt … After repeated harassment and intimidation, married couple Azita Rafizadeh and Peyman Kushak-Baghi have been convicted for their involvement with the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). ”Chinese investment does have the potential to address Africa’s infrastructure gap, but its approach has led to mounting debt and few, if any, jobs in most countries,” he added. Some countries aren’t waiting on China to take action: Pakistan and Nepal turned down Chinese infrastructure loans last year in favor of other sources of funding. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said in his 2010 UN Millennium Challenge speech that China canceled debt owed by 50 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) and least developed countries (LDCs) worth 25.6 billion yuan as of 2009, and would cancel more in 2010. While China has committed to debt relief for 77 countries including Kenya under a recent G20 agreement to help poor and developing states during the … Maybe it's time for the US and other Western Countries to refinance these countries with a debt burden which will work for them and their citizens while relieving these countries of their future serfdom under the CCP. In addition to these two particular cases, Tandogan mentioned other debt-ridden countries such as Djibouti, Tajikistan, Maldives, Madagascar, Pakistan, Montenegro and so on. China has characterized its “Belt and Road” initiative as a win-win for its aspirations to become a global trade leader and developing economies’ desire to fund transportation infrastructure. China is a major stakeholder in the economies of many African countries with a significant influence on many aspects of the continent's affairs. Among the Pacific economies, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and Tonga are cited as suffering potential debt-traps with China, including for BRI projects. But it also gives Beijing a strategic card to play against India and the United States if tensions worsen to the point of naval blockades as the two powers increasingly confront each other at sea. Some Muslim states have even praised China's domestic policies toward Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs. Gatestone also reserves the right to edit comments for length, clarity and grammar, or to conform to these guidelines. Venezuela delivers oil to China instead of its worthless currency. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images). The Dragon is awakening and if Democracies do not in concert stand up strongly for the values of free societies by holding it accountable, its fiery breath will burn them all. Two teachers face long prison sentences for educating Baha'is, who are banned from pursuing further education in Iran. Critics of China's BRI program point out that Chinese loan agreements lack transparency and that contracts sometimes serve China's interests in a racketeering way, oblivious to local concerns. The Center for Global Development, a non-profit research organization, analyzed debt to China that will be incurred by nations participating in the current Belt and Road investment plan. In addition, Ecuador cannot seem to prevent the rape of its marine life just on the edge of its sovereign maritime economic zone by hundreds of Chinese fishing boats near the Galapagos Islands. The … Group of 20 rich economies to cease collecting interest from poor countries for the rest of the year, Chinese state media clarified that many large Belt and Road loans were "not applicable for debt relief." The project is expected to improve traffic but will have little to no other benefits -- apart from moving local resources to China. The Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank) owns more than two-fifths of Kyrgyzstan’s nearly $4 billion foreign debt and has financed major transport and energy projects in the country. Finally, comparing Chinese and Western financial relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, it will demonstrate that, in contrast to the debt-trap narrative, China’s non-interventionist approach has opened space for developing countries, particularly those with governments facing hostility from the US and its allies.” Last year, with more than $1 billion in debt to China, Sri Lanka handed over a port to companies owned by the Chinese government. By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. ONE of the biggest fears of people in developing countries including the Philippines, so we are told, is that of the Chinese “debt trap.” The simplest explanation of the idea is that China, in its aggressive push to develop its intercontinental “Belt and Road Initiative,” is lending money to poor countries under unfavorable terms to finance badly-needed infrastructure projects. The world should follow the initiative of the Australian PM, Scott Morrison. Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves. 1030. There is already plenty of evidence concerning some BRI participating states of muting criticism of China's poor record on human rights. Note: Gatestone appreciates your comments. 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