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US, Japan, Australia tout support of infrastructure projects as ‘transparent’ alternative to China’s ‘coercive debt financing’
- Washington, Tokyo and Canberra joined forces three years ago to provide an alternative development financing model to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative
- A US official did not give numbers on how much funding the US and allied governments are willing to spend overall on infrastructure projects around the world
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Jacob Fromerin Washington
Officials from the US, Japan and Australia touted their joint efforts to support infrastructure projects in developing countries around the world as a transparent and non-predatory substitute to Chinese-funded projects, during a virtual think tank panel discussion on Thursday.
“One alternative provides state-run, not very transparent, often coercive debt financing,” said David Marchick, chief operating officer at the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), referring to Beijing but not mentioning it by name. “And another provides transparent, private sector-driven, un-opaque, project-based sustainable financing.”
The DFC is a US government bank that helps finance development projects around the world.
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“We’re providing a different model,” he said at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies event.
01:17
US, Chinese diplomats’ meeting in Zurich paves way for continued talks
US, Chinese diplomats’ meeting in Zurich paves way for continued talks
It was the latest sign of Washington’s efforts to corral its allies in competition against Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government’s global effort to build roads, bridges, communications lines and other infrastructure in countries around the world.
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