Wednesday, July 11, 2018

China Captures a Port

China is busy loaning money to countries on their New Silk Road trade project. Sri Lanka's default on a loan demonstrates a problem America has pointed out for those who take Peking's money.

India should worry, too:

Filipinos are alarmed at the recent Chinese takeover of a major new port facility Chinese loans had financed in Sri Lanka. As many finance experts warned, Sri Lanka could not meet the payments on the loan and defaulted. Chinese firms took controlling interest of the port. Filipinos fear China has the same scam in mind for them.

Not that this is suddenly a Chinese naval base. And even if it was, right now it would be cut off from support. There is a lot of military power between Sri Lanka and any source of supply.

But it is a start. What might the Sri Lankan government agree to in order to escape the debt that they can't repay?

And there are other nations vulnerable to what Sri Lanka experienced, such as Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan, Venezuela and Tajikistan.