BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) – Instead of decrying China for its loans to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the United States should instead extend its own infrastructure loans to countries poor, international news magazine The Diplomat said in an article on Saturday.
“Rather than decrying China for its loans to ICR countries, the United States should engage in infrastructure loans to poor countries, and / or facilitate the lending of multilateral banks for such projects, thus reducing bureaucratic requirements, ”he said.
The ICR has been repeatedly accused of being “a debt trap and an attempt to take power,” but this has been belied by extensive research, the article noted.
There is “no evidence that Chinese banks are excessively lending or investing in loss-making projects to penetrate these countries,” said Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the China-Africa Research Initiative. Johns Hopkins University, cited in the article.
“On the contrary, there is evidence that China is not engaging in debt trap diplomacy,” according to the same source.
Other countries, not just poor countries, have also chosen to join the ICR, the article noted. “The ICR has reached not only Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, but also East Asia and Europe.”
Beijing’s proposed initiative does not pose a threat to Washington, The Diplomat said. End
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