Free Republic

Israel’s representative in Taiwan, Maya Yaron, recently called communist China’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel “disturbing” while praising Taiwan for its unequivocal support of her country.When the government of Taiwan learned about the atrocities committed by Hamas, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately posted a statement: “Taiwan strongly condemns the indiscriminate attacks against the Israelis carried out by Hamas. We stand in solidarity with Israel and denounce all forms of terrorism.” The ministry also posted an image on X, formerly Twitter, showing the top of Taipei’s tallest building lit with blue and white light, representing Israel’s flag. Taiwan,...

Even as high debts are impoverishing its local governments, China is playing hardball with foreign borrowers, many of them participants in the Belt and Road Initiative, who incurred massive debts to build infrastructure projects to connect their economies to China. Fortune Magazine, drawing on reporting from the AP, writes:A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China — including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia,...

JOHANNESBURG, March 28 (Reuters) - China spent $240 billion bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021, with the amount soaring in recent years as more have struggled to repay loans spent building "Belt & Road" infrastructure, according to a study published Tuesday. Almost 80% of the rescue lending was made between 2016 and 2021, mainly to middle-income countries including Argentina, Mongolia and Pakistan, according to the report by researchers from the World Bank, Harvard Kennedy School, AidData and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. China has lent hundreds of billions of dollars to build infrastructure in developing...

A recent announcement by China that it is forgiving 23 loans for 17 African countries may be motivated by accusations of "debt-trap diplomacy," say some analysts. Critics have long accused Beijing of practicing debt-trap diplomacy, suggesting it deliberately lends to countries that it knows cannot repay the money, thereby increasing its political leverage. China vehemently rejects this, alleging it's a way for the U.S. to discredit Beijing, Washington's main challenger in the quest for influence in Africa. China's decision to forgive the zero-interest loans is, in part, aimed at countering the debt-trap narrative, said Harry Verhoeven, senior research scholar at...

China is poised to make an exclusive entry into post-U.S. Afghanistan with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source close to government officials in Afghanistan told The Daily Beast that Kabul authorities are growing more intensively engaged with China on an extension of the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—the flagship project of BRI, which involves the construction of highways, railways and energy pipelines between Pakistan and China—to Afghanistan.

According to a new report by the Financial Times (FT), China has offered to build a road network for the Taliban if they can ensure peace in Afghanistan following the United States (US) military’s withdrawal from the country. FT quoted senior Pakistan-based tribal leaders with close ties to the group as saying that Beijing has offered “sizeable investments in energy and infrastructure projects” throughout the nation, which would help boost local commerce and trade.

The world has averted a systemic debt crisis amid the pandemic. However, the poorest developing countries continue to face significant debt problems, raising global worries over multiplying debt traps by creditors like China. Addressing the rising risk of a systemic debt crisis in developing countries is one of the key themes at this week’s virtual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Economists believe tackling debt vulnerabilities in poor nations is critical for preventing divergent recoveries around the world. Hence, IMF and World Bank officials are calling for extending debt relief for the most vulnerable...

The Maldives government is now alarmed at the amount of debt it owes to China. With the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism-dependent islands are now finding it difficult to repay the Chinese debt that the previous government took. India and China have been trying to gain clout in the region. Under Former President Abdullah Yameen’s government, China invested millions of dollars in infrastructure projects under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, in 2018 Yameen faced election defeat. In an interview with BBC, the current Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed said that the Chinese debt amounts to...

Through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has poured billions of dollars in loans into low-income countries to help build their massive infrastructure projects. And now with the COVID-19 pandemic, concern about a looming debt crisis has increased in developing nations, as most of them are already bent under massive Chinese debt. Launched in 2013, China’s BRI, also referred to as “One Belt, One Road” or the “New Silk Road,” is one of the world’s most ambitious and controversial development programs. In recent years, the initiative has been perceived as a “debt trap,” due to Beijing’s predatory lending practices....

The cooling of enthusiasm for China’s investments mirrors the unease of incoming governments in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Maldives, where new administrations have come to power wary of Chinese deals struck by their predecessors. Pakistan’s new government had wanted to review all BRI contracts. Officials say there are concerns the deals were badly negotiated, too expensive or overly favored China.

Remember how China drew praise for extending all that influence throughout Africa, and not just Africa, but in Latin America and Asia, too?  Investing in development where wicked private investors just wouldn't?  Telling everyone that its gentle message worldwide was "Let's get rich together"?  Showing America how it's done? This propaganda has been in the news pipeline for years and drawn a lot of praise, or at least subtle accolades, from the pundits.  But now it turns out that that aid and those "investments" weren't quite as free and altruistic as promoted. China is now putting the squeeze on the countries it made its "investments" in.  Not...

The Debt Trap Unspoken Link Between Credit Cards and Colleges By JONATHAN D. GLATER EAST LANSING, Mich. — When Ryan T. Muneio was tailgating with his parents at a Michigan State football game this fall, he noticed a big tent emblazoned with a Bank of America logo. Inside, bank representatives were offering free T-shirts and other merchandise to those who applied for credit cards and other banking products. “They did a good job,” Mr. Muneio, 21 and a junior at Michigan State, said of the tactic. “It was good advertising.” Bank of America’s relationship with the university extends well beyond...