China’s Belt and Road to Nowhere: Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy is a “shadow of its former self.”

Foreign Policy ^ | 02/13/2023 | Christina Lu

[SeekAndFind]

Nearly a decade after its inception, momentum behind China’s sweeping Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) appears to be slowing as lending slumps and projects stall—forcing Chinese President Xi Jinping to again rethink a floundering initiative that he once hailed as his “project of the century.”

After doling out hundreds of billions of dollars, experts say China’s lending for BRI projects has plummeted, largely a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s own economic slowdown. Support has also waned as partner countries drown in debt and fractures emerge—literally—in projects, fueling uncertainty about the future of the sprawling initiative. In 2022, 60 percent of China’s overseas lending went to borrowers in financial distress, compared to just 5 percent in 2010, said Bradley Parks, the executive director of the AidData research group at the College of William and Mary.

“At its peak, it was really looked at as the centerpiece of China’s economic engagement with the rest of the world,” said Scott Kennedy, an expert in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Now, he said, it is a “shadow of its former self.”

Xi launched the BRI in 2013 as an ambitious infrastructure development campaign that would span more than 140 countries and export China’s industrial overcapacity, boosting China’s diplomatic clout and enhancing its global influence. Given its sheer scale and scope, many referred to it as China’s version of the Marshall Plan—only bigger and bolder. But Beijing’s vision has also been murky, intensifying scrutiny and controversy over the initiative and the contracts involved.

“No one really knows for sure what Beijing is trying to get out of it,” said Michael Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center and the writer of Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

[SeekAndFind]

One of the most glaring examples is Sri Lanka, which defaulted on a mountain of debt last year as it grappled with a spiraling economic crisis. But cracks emerged far earlier: After struggling to cough up enough money to Beijing in 2017, it signed over the rights to a strategic port, fueling alarm of the dangers of China’s lending practices.

In Pakistan, which owes nearly one-third of its foreign debt to China, protests have erupted around a major port project. And in recent weeks, debt-laden Zambia has been tensely wrangling a restructuring plan with China, its biggest bilateral creditor.

The BRI has fallen on hard times. Many many countries have realized that they simply don’t have the luxury of an economic structure that can withstand the type of loans that have been coming in from China for so long.

[rxh4n1]

Maybe the Chicoms will use a little gunboat diplomacy to collect. They have long memories of when it was done to them.

[ifinnegan]

Chicom’s tired mantra.

[WASCWatch]

These countries should refuse to repay the loans based on fraud and misrepresentation. What really can China do to force compliance to pay for substandard structural projects.

China can’t do shit to even the smallest of nations.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Julius Nyerere-Tanzania. My hero.

Chicoms built him a railroad and he promptly kicked them out.
Soviets built Aswan Dam and Sadat did the same. Lovin’ it.

[bert]

In China there is an expression Tofu Drang. It refers to construction using tofu that falls apart.

The Road and Belt initiative is showing some effort to be Tofu Drang. So, Payments for Tofu are curtailed. China banks suffer

[AppyPappy]

China can’t project an occupying army. What China CAN do is build the electrical infrastructure and then hold it hostage like they did in the Philippines. You complain and they jiggle the power switch. You don’t pay and they cut off the power.

[SunkenCiv]

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[sauropod]

Interesting take.

[sergeantdave]

Africa has been voicing its displeasure of China’s lebensraum policy by sending ChiComm managers back home in body bags.

It’s another in a long line of stories that the neo-fascist media refuses to cover. Ever hear about the sabotage of ChiComm belt initiatives? You won’t read about that either.

Tribal Africa is a tough place to make deals work.

[DUMBGRUNT]

—”The BRI has fallen on hard times.”

And now China holds the title to many infrastructure projects and owns/manages the real estate of dual-use military areas.

While the US pissed away trillions on “foreign aid” to win a few hearts and minds; very few.

The Chinese appear to be ahead in this game.

[Vaduz]

Bingo

[Nifster]

Who his why the US goes to Europe orJapan

[GOPJ]

No one knows how to give away billions of dollars on silly world projects like the United States.

If Xi is trying to compete with us on that level he will lose.

[dennisw]

Good. The Brics make lots of mistakes and blow billions on shyte. Same as Russia does in stupid vainglorious wars in Ukraine and maybe Moldova.

[seowulf]

It seems it’s just as easy for third world Africans to steal yuan as it is dollars.

[Berosus]

There are a couple other things to like about Nyerere. First, instead of holding onto the presidency for life, like many other African leaders did, he stepped down when he felt he was getting too old for the job. Second, in retirement he did not become a burden on the state, by taking a pension or any other form of payment.

[DIRTYSECRET]

You know more than me. I just know the good parts.