China’s belt and road: ‘sour grapes’ claims of debt-trap diplomacy are not supported by evidence

China has often been attacked for using debt to entrap partner nations, but loan recipients are most often willing partners rather than passive victims

The sometimes-heated reaction to the belt and road is a microcosm of the polarising impact China’s economic and strategic rise has had on the world

Reading Time:3 minutes

A vessel docks at the port facility at Hambantota, Sri Lanka, on February 10, 2015. The controversial port project has become a focal point of criticism over China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the debt load it leaves on partner countries. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30am, 2 Nov 2020Updated: 3:39am, 2 Nov 2020

The Royal Institute of International Affairs, better known as Chatham House, recently held an event with the unusual and rather controversial title of “Debunking the Myth of Debt-trap Diplomacy: How Recipient Countries Shape China’s Belt and Road Initiative”.

It seemed a bold move given the torrent of criticism that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has faced from key figures such as US Vice-President Mike Pence and others. They have accused China of luring developing nations such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia into debt so that it can seize strategic assets.

The move coincided with the World Bank’s annual meeting in Washington. World Bank president David Malpass revealed there that the bank hopes to “standardise” what is becoming a spaghetti bowl of international infrastructure initiatives that compete with the Belt and Road Initiative.

As pressure mounts for increased fiscal stimulus to counter recession and raise the productivity of economies in general, the need to end wasteful infrastructure competition – involving mainly China, Japan, the United States, Australia and India – and focus on stepping up investment is becoming apparent.

This is happening at a time when the political spotlight is being trained on infrastructure in pre-election America and elsewhere. The realisation is dawning that the money and time involved in infrastructure building are huge and demand concerted, not competing, effort and resources.

This is far from the case at present. Since President Xi Jinping announced the hemisphere-girdling belt and road in 2013, it has spawned competing initiatives including the Asia Africa Growth Corridor, the Trilateral Partnership and the so-called Blue Dot Network.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x