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But that is not what China does. When the other country can’t pay back the loan, China “buys back” the construction project and turns it into something useful f
by voodoo_v_ 8y ago
But that is not what China does. When the other country can’t pay back the loan, China “buys back” the construction project and turns it into something useful for them, like a military base. That is for instance a worry with the Vanuatu wharf but there are multiple examples across the Pacific (Tonga, Sri Lanka, Cook Islands, ...)
- mtw 8y agoSame way the US managed to open military bases in countries economically important for them (Germany, UK, Bahrain, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia). Guantanamo was opened to protect the investments in the Cuban economy back then
- etrevino 8y agoI can't speak for the Guantanamo instance, but I can say that the US didn't use loans as leverage to build military bases. In most of the cases you cite they were put there to contain the Soviet Union and its allies. Often the national governments involved wanted or felt they needed the Americans (even if there were local reservations).