In August 2018 the Malaysian Prime Minister traveled to Beijing and warned about a new form of “colonialism”, a term the Chinese were none to pleased to hear. The Prime Minister then asked for a new Chinese loan to service the previous Chinese loans, a procedure that Xi Jinping said made no logical or ethical sense.
RE: The Prime Minister then asked for a new Chinese loan to service the previous Chinese loans, a procedure that Xi Jinping said made no logical or ethical sense.
But did China give the loan anyway? If the answer is yes and If The PM accepted, then he’s OK with that colonialism.
On August 21, 2018:
Malaysia Cancels Two Big China Projects, Fearing They Will Bankrupt Country.
....Mahathir’s decision is a big blow for China, said Marina Rudyak, who studies Chinese foreign aid at Heidelberg University. “Xi Jinping frames BRI as China’s contribution in a ‘new era’ where China is a responsible global player,” she wrote in an email. “This means the canceled projects signify a failure of China’s economic diplomacy.”
With its Belt and Road Initiative, China thought it could outperform Western projects “while at the same time helping Chinese companies to internationalize,” Rudyak said. “Turns out, there is a reason for all those bulky international standards China had frequently portrayed as obsolete and obstructing development.”
The World Bank, which funds infrastructure projects in many developing countries, has said the Belt and Road Initiative comes with potential benefits and risks. In a blog post this spring, a senior World Bank economist said successful BRI projects could improve infrastructure and commerce in countries that have had difficulty integrating into the world economy.
But the economist, Michele Ruta, added that for some countries, “the financing required for BRI projects may expand debt to unsustainable levels.” Big infrastructure projects can also carry “environmental, social, and corruption risks,” he said, especially “in countries involved in the BRI, which tend to have relatively weak governance.”
Ms. Rudyak is dumb or a willing accomplice. China is not doing these projects for better “economic diplomacy” on the world stage. Buying off third world politicians with debt and big infrastructure projects is a tool they use all the time, think Mombosa, Kenya, Djibouti, Sri Lanka and Pakistan for example.
Eight countries in danger of falling into China’s ‘Debt Trap’.