By He Qinglian
From the article:
On September 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2018 that China is willing to provide to African countries $60 billion through various channels including government assistance, financial institutions, and corporate investment. Some of the countries in this list are among Africa’s least developed, or the most heavily in debt, and now Beijing has exempted them from making loan payments that were originally due at the end of this year.
Xi’s statements sparked negative responses in Chinese online circles, with many people accusing the leader of “wantonly showering coins.”
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Reality has also shown that China’s Belt and Road is vulnerable to major setbacks. Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia visited Beijing in August to seek China’s understanding: because Malaysia’s national debt had soared to $250 billion, it had no choice but to suspend three major infrastructure projects. About 70 countries are currently participating in China’s One Belt One Road plan, many of which owe large debts. The Washington-based think tank “Center for Global Development” estimated in March this year that the Belt and Road Initiative has mired eight countries in severe debt.
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