Trump Indonesia project is latest stop on China’s Belt and Road
Project is part of the Lido City development in Jakarta and is the first to link the US president’s business interests to Beijing’s epic infrastructure plan
A billion-dollar Indonesian property development with ties to US President Donald Trump has become the latest project in China’s globe-spanning Belt and Road infrastructure project – just as Washington and Beijing are tussling over trade.
A subsidiary of Chinese state-owned construction firm Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) signed a deal with Indonesia’s MNC Land to build a theme park outside Jakarta as part of the ambitious project, the company said on Thursday.
The project includes Trump-branded hotels, residences and a golf course, as well as other hotel, shopping and residential developments.
The deal is the latest to raise questions about the extent of Trump’s financial exposure to Beijing.
The park – expected to be backed with up to US$500 million in Chinese government loans – is part of an “integrated lifestyle resort”, known as MNC Lido City.
Two days after MCC said it would provide the loan to the Indonesian developers, Trump said in a tweet that he would try to help the Chinese telecom company ZTE, which was hit hard by US sanctions, “get back into business, fast”.