PNG A RESOURCE RICH COUNTRY POORLY MANAGED AND SOLD OFF BIT BY BIT TO CHINA

CHINA is out to conquer the world, and many have already fallen victim to its game.

The rising superpower has been asserting itself on the global stage for well over a decade, with its Belt and Road Initiative, part of its aim to become a central player.

But recent data from the Centre for Global Development (CGD), an international think tank, suggests its program has already left eight countries swimming in debt: Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

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After borrowing money from China for infrastructure projects, these countries are now pushing their debt-to-GDP ratios higher and higher, with China holding a rising share in them.

POORER COUNTRIES FALLING AT CHINA’S FEET

China’s game, best summed up by Quartz, goes like this: they offer the honey of cheap infrastructure loans, then attack with the sting of default when these poorer economies aren’t able to pay their interest down.

At the heart of this sits the Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar project that seeks to connect countries across continents on trade, with China at its centre.

The ambitious plan involves creating a 6000km sea route connecting China to South East Asia, Oceania and North Africa (the “Road”), as well as through building railway and road infrastructure to connect China with Central and West Asia, the Middle East and Europe (the “Belt”)

According to Dr Malcolm Davis, senior analyst in defence strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China is mainly targeting poorer countries and employing a “debt-trap strategy”.

Dr Davis told news.com.au the trillion-dollar project basically forces other countries to align themselves with it.

“It gets countries — particularly poorer countries — hooked on debts they can’t pay back,” he said. “When they can’t pay it back, China basically grabs ports, facilities or territory. It’s a debt-trap strategy.

“It services their need in terms of accessing resources, sustaining contacts and national development, and maintaining that ‘China Dream’. It’s really vital for the Communist Party to maintain prosperity if they want to maintain power.”

He used Sri Lanka as a key example.

Last year, the island nation was forced to hand over a port to companies owned by the Chinese government last year after falling into more than $1 billion in debt.

The deal was signed between two state firms — the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and China Merchants Port Holdings — allowing the state-owned Chinese company to lease the port for 99 years.

Last year Sri Lanka formally signed its strategic Hambantota Port over to China for 99 years.