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© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.China's loans pushing world’s poorest countries to brink of collapse
By BERNARD CONDON NEW YORK©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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flowers
This article has one-sided view. Nothing mentioned about the majority of the debts were owed to the West. Those countries have always been poor without any way out, but China helped them develop and see some lights at the end of the tunnel. They are suffering right now because the West have raised interest rates so much that led to hyper-inflations in their countries.
TaiwanIsNotChina
So much for China being a humble banker. More like a drug dealer, to be honest.
EFD
That was the entire point. Foist loans on these countries that the tyrants running them could grift, and when the country can’t make the payments, enforce 99 year lease provisions on deep water ports or exclusive mineral rights to precious resources.
It was like a drug dealer giving away the first hit of smack for free. The endless cycle of depress the ultimate goal.
Desert Tortoise
The data is clear that China lends more to developing countries than the World Bank or any other nation or institution. But while the World Bank lends on the condition the recipient nation undertake specific governmental and financial reforms they help them with, China does nothing to help the nations it lends to. World Bank wants nations it lends to to reform so they can pay their loans back and avoid getting in debt in the future. China does no such thing with its loans and often makes conditions worse for its borrowers.
EFD
DAMN YOU, Autocorrect!
"The endless cycle of dependency is the ultimate goal."
Apologies.
stormcrow
“ . . . from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.”
Yuck!
lostrune2
The West re-structures loans and even forgives some of them - China does not
Why do ya think China is so secretive about these loan contracts to the people of the countries? Don't the taxpayers of those countries deserve to know what their government is signing their tax money into? Yet China forbids those countries to disclose these secretive loan contracts to their own people.
It took a government change in Kenya to finally expose these secretive loan contracts to their people. And it shows why China is so secretive:
"Kenya: Why is the government hiding its Chinese loan contracts?"
https://www.theafricareport.com/125090/kenya-why-is-the-government-hiding-its-chinese-loan-contracts/
"Kenya publishes loan documents for Chinese-built railway"
https://www.reuters.com/article/kenya-china-debt/kenya-publishes-loan-documents-for-chinese-built-railway-idINL8N3234AQ
lostrune2
So, finally there's some exposure on what those country's people's tax money are being used:
"China’s secret loan contracts reveal its hold over low-income nations"
https://www.ft.com/content/7e98795f-159b-4455-903e-6e21c345d4a9
For a loan contract, this is even more suspicious since that prevents the borrower from using outside help to pay back their debt, like using other banks or the IMF or World Bank funds
No wonder China wants to keep these loan contracts secret, but it's those country's people's money!
Example: "China has been criticised for its role in recent sovereign restructurings such as Zambia, where some bondholders resisted a reduction in their interest payments because they suspected the savings would be used to service the country’s Chinese debts."