By The Pioneer
From the article:
Three Muslim-majority Asian countries — Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Maldives — have elected leaders who campaigned on a promise to temper China’s growing influence in their respective countries, but analysts say reducing the foothold of the world’s second-largest economy won’t be easy because of the billions of dollars in development projects that are already underway.
The surprising elections in recent months of nonagenarian Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia, cricketer Imran Khan in Pakistan and longtime Opposition lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the Maldives buck a regional trend toward authoritarianism, and could present an obstacle for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s hallmark “Belt and Road Initiative”.
...
The Center for Global Development, a Washington think tank, estimates China’s loans to Maldives total at least $1.3 billion, a quarter of the island nation’s gross domestic product. The country is considered by the World Bank and the IMF to be at high risk of debt distress because of its vulnerability to outside shocks. The kind of debts the Chinese have subjected the Maldivians to, the effects of it will continue to linger on and Maldivians will have to continue to deal with it. It has happened so with Sri Lanka.
Read the full article here.