Hidden Debt Behind Chinese Belt and Road Initiative

This article investigates the debt scandals associated with China’s Belt and Road initiative which seeks to help build overseas infrastructure in needy countries with the underlying motive to expand. Recently, there has been question on the way in which China manages and finances its projects, as AidData reports that these projects cause 42 low- and middle-income countries to go in 385 billion dollars in debt. Additionally, reports claim that nearly 35% of China’s infrastructure projects face problems like scandal corruption, labor violations, and other environmental hazards. Today, many countries accuse the Chinese of lacking sustainability and transparency in this initiative. After reading this article, a few thoughts popped into my head. First, I wonder if there are more than 42 countries that are victim to this Chinese debt trap. I assume that there are, as the problems plaguing this initiative are just recently being discovered, implying there is much more research needing to be done. Additionally, I also wonder just how much debt these countries are in. I would not be surprised that following sufficient research, numbers will exceed 500 billion. As far as future inquiries, I want to learn more about the chief reasons why China decided to pursue this initiative, especially knowing that there would be many detrimental repercussions. I believe that beyond the desire for economic expansion and to “help” other poor countries, there are other reasons for the pursuit of the initiative which I speculate stem from greed and corruption. Overall speaking, I believe high GDP countries like the U.S should use their resources to help countries victim to China’s initiative. This can be in the form of funding (to help countries repay the debt owed to China) or health care relief. Given the already desperate situations of these nations, funding and relief ought to be free or come at a low cost.