Poorest 750 nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025, study warns
www.theguardian.com
Vulnerable countries to pay record $22bn this year, mostly relating to loans issued under Xi Jinping’s belt and road initiative

Vulnerable countries to pay record $22bn this year, mostly relating to loans issued under Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative

The most vulnerable nations on Earth are facing a “tidal wave” of debt repayments as a Chinese lending boom starts to be called in, a new report has warned.

The analysis, published on Tuesday by Australian foreign policy thinktank the Lowy Institute, said that in 2025 the poorest 75 countries were on the hook for record high debt repayments US$22bn to China. The 75 nations’ debt formed the bulk of the total $35bn calculated by Lowy for 2025.

“Now, and for the rest of this decade, China will be more debt collector than banker to the developing world,” the report said.

The pressure to repay was putting strain on local funding for health and education as well as climate change mitigation.

    • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
      28·
      4 days ago

      They certainly do. China is straight up a police state, and what they’re doing to the Uyghurs is ghastly and draconian. I hate it and I think it’s really backwards, but there’s little evidence I’ve seen that actually meets the qualifications for genocide. Unlike what our best buddies in the whole wide world are doing in Gaza and the West Bank. What’s more is that it turns out we’re also a police state, and that the IMF promotes instability and oppression via austerity measures. So, pick your poison, I guess.

      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
        4·
        3 days ago

        but there’s little evidence I’ve seen that actually meets the qualifications for genocide.

        Lets start with: What is your definition of genocide?

        • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
          12·
          3 days ago

          So, that would be working towards the eradication of a people. There’s various ways to get there, forced sterilization (which we did with native Americans), outright slaughter or famine (which we did with native Americans), forced removal campaigns (spoiler alert), and, of course, the eradication of cultural identity (like the boarding schools for native Americans).

          AFAICT, the evidence for what’s happening in Xinjiang is mostly around re-education camps, which could arguably qualify on the fourth criterion, but we don’t really have any reliable details on it because authoritarian governments generally don’t share their secret squirrel bullshit publicly. Also, people get sent to prison hella easy and locals generally aren’t free to walk around unaccompanied. That’s all batshit insane police state shit that Trump would implement today if he thought he could get away with it, but it’s not Genocide. To my understanding, there is no evidence to support the idea that Uyghurs are being slaughtered in masse or that there is any kind of effort to depopulate them. And there’s certainly nothing like we’re seeing in Gaza, I seriously doubt even China could hide something like that.

          • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
            3·
            3 days ago

            So, that would be working towards the eradication of a people. There’s various ways to get there, forced sterilization (which we did with native Americans), outright slaughter or famine (which we did with native Americans), forced removal campaigns (spoiler alert), and, of course, the eradication of cultural identity (like the boarding schools for native Americans).

            I’m glad to see we agree on the definition of genocide to include intentional destruction of the culture.

            AFAICT, the evidence for what’s happening in Xinjiang is mostly around re-education camps, which could arguably qualify on the fourth criterion, but we don’t really have any reliable details on it because authoritarian governments generally don’t share their secret squirrel bullshit publicly.

            I’m not sure you’ve looked very hard at the “destruction of culture” aspects China is imposing. Here’s an article from CNN from 6 years ago:

            “Chinese Uyghurs forced to welcome Communist Party into their homes: Government statements and state media reports show that families are required to provide detailed information during the visits on their personal lives and political views. They are also subject to “political education” from the live-in officials– whose stays are mandated to be at least one week per month in some locations.”

            "In numerous photos posted online, the authorities paint a picture of ethnic unity, showing smiling Han officials and minority families jointly preparing meals, doing household chores, playing sports and even sharing the same bed – images that Human Rights Watch’s Wang says put the “forced intimacy” element of the program on full display. "

            “A local government statement online also indicated that officials must inspect the homes they are staying for any religious elements or logos – and instructed the officials to confiscate any such items found in the house.”

            ““The real intention of the Chinese government is to eliminate the Uyghurs as a distinct ethnic group,” Rebiya Kadeer, a longtime exiled Uyghur leader who recently stepped down as president of the advocacy group World Uyghur Congress, told CNN in an interview in Washington last year.”

            source