(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter In Gyo-jun = China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang has strongly protested criticism that China is setting up a ‘debt trap’ on its way to Africa.
According to foreign media reports on the 12th, Qin said in Ethiopia, the first country he visited after taking office, saying, “China’s contribution to Africa has improved the lives of Africans,” he stressed.
As China seeks economic development from African countries by exploiting their resources, it has mainly invested in mining and railroad construction projects, but ultimately thwarted US and European claims of “debt trap diplomacy”.
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In fact, US President Joe Biden indirectly criticized China’s debt trap diplomacy, saying that African countries are not investing adequately in their own countries due to the excessive debt repayment burden at the “Summit of African Leaders between the United States” held in Washington DC on the 15th of last month. .
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Tony Blincoln also discussed China’s debt-trap diplomacy at each opportunity.
China, which has worked hard in Africa since the days of non-alignment diplomacy in the 1960s, has increased its investments in Africa since 2013, when President Xi Jinping came to power. China’s investment in Africa has expanded through the Belt and Road Initiative (a land and sea silk road linking China, Africa, Central Asia and Europe) under the banner of President Xi.
These attempts were intended to reshape the world order by expanding China’s influence in Africa.
But China has often requested projects with little or no revenue prospects, and the combined global economic crisis has left many African countries in the lurch.
Bloomberg News pointed out that 12% of Africa’s external debt, which currently stands at $700 billion, is owed to China.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s China African Research Initiative (CARI) announced last year, about 30 percent of the $143 billion that China lent to African countries between 2000 and 2017 went to Angola. Zambia and Ghana are also major debtors to China.
Bloomberg reported, citing local media in Ethiopia, that Ethiopia owes $13.7 billion to China, and part of the pardon deal appears to have been reached after Chin’s visit.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Qin, who is visiting Ethiopia, attended the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention project completion ceremony the day before and said he would build and deliver high-quality buildings and transferred operating rights as soon as possible, stressing that China will never say “empty words.”
“No country or people can force Africa to take the side of a particular country”, he added, “Africa should be a stage for international cooperation, not competition”.
In addition to Ethiopia, Chin will also visit Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt.
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2023/01/12 10:02 Submit
