The Chinese debt-trap or debt-trap diplomacy is a Western media propaganda accusing the People's Republic of China of handing unpayable loans to periphery countries to build expensive infrastructure with the goal of seizing the countries' assets as payment for their debts. It has been debunked extensively by Statesian professors Deborah Bräutigam and Meg Rithmire.[1] the myth is told as China using and deception to goad poorer countries into taking out loan after loan after loan that they can’t
As states around the world pile on debt to combat the coronavirus pandemic and bolster flagging economies, fears of such possible seizures have only amplified by bourgeois media.
China has instead given loans at low interest rates and often allows countries to restructure or even never repay loans, unlike the neocolonial IMF.[2] Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country.
Chinalso a has forgiven tens of billions of dollars of debt held by African countries.[4] It has also forgiven 23 interest-free loans to 17 different countries.[2]
The economist Yanis Varoufakis discussed the topic in a recent lecture given at the Cambridge forum. He helpfully debunks a number of myths on the matter.
References
- ↑ Deborah Brautigam, Meg Rithmire. "The Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ Is a Myth" The Atlantic.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amanda Yee (2022-12-19). "Why Chinese ‘debt trap diplomacy’ is a lie" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
- ↑ "Debt Relief with Chinese Characteristics". China Africa Research Initiative.
- ↑ Shang Guan Jie Wen (2022-02-23). "China Forgives Tens of Billions of Dollars in Debt for Africa" China and the New World. Archived from the original on 2022-02-23. Retrieved 2022-05-10.