China's 'Debt-Trap' Diplomacy with Third-World Nations

 by Lawrence A. Franklin

August 28, 2020 at 5:00 am

• Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves.

• The economic benefits, however, of some of these deals between China and poor "Third World" countries in Africa and Latin America are questionable. A few of these bilateral packages appear contrived to imprison already impoverished states into realms of permanent economic vassalage to China.

• The objectives of China's global BRI programs are clearly as much strategic and political as they are economic. BRI projects seem not designed so much to win new friends as to win new dependents, especially in areas either neglected by the West or in the Western sphere of influence.

• The ultimate objective of the global dimension of China's BRI enterprise appears to be geared toward replacing the existing political, military and economic dimension of the West's liberal democratic order -- again not surprisingly -- with one dominated solely by the Communist Party of China.

Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves. Pictured: Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army at the opening ceremony of China's military base in Djibouti, on August 1, 2017. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy proposal has been the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) commercial and strategic program. At first, the network was pitched as a restoration of the ancient overland trade route, the "Silk Road," that linked China to Europe. This "New Silk Road," like its predecessor, would traverse the vast steppes of Central Asia -- but the contemporary BRI is allegedly meant to serve also as an economic boon for all the countries along the route.

Xi quickly followed the overland BRI with a maritime version, presumably to connect Chinese ports on the South China Sea to seaports in the Indian Ocean, continuing on to the Middle East states and ultimately reaching European ports. Initially, these proposals had only involved countries along BRI routes. Now Xi's grand thoroughfares are global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves. The economic benefits, however, of some of these deals between China and poor "Third World" countries in Africa and Latin America are questionable. A few of these bilateral packages appear contrived to imprison already impoverished states into realms of permanent economic vassalage to China.

The BRI networks clearly intend to benefit China, either by stimulating an enormous increase in commerce, or, when debts cannot be repaid, by appropriating whatever assets China selects. China, as the world's largest importer of oil, will be able to diversify its sources of petroleum as a consequence of several bilateral BRI deals. China most likely also hopes to secure political benefits through BRI arrangements. Countries participating in China's BRI, and generally friendly to the US and its allies, might shy away from supporting the West's national security concerns for fear of losing large Chinese investments in their local economies.

There is already plenty of evidence concerning some BRI participating states of muting criticism of China's poor record on human rights. Many Islamic countries, for example, remain silent on China's near-genocidal treatment of millions of Muslim Uyghurs in its northwestern province of Xinjiang. Some Muslim states have even praised China's domestic policies toward Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs. Not one Muslim-majority state voted to condemn treatment of the Uighurs in support of the West's UN resolution to publicly sanction Beijing.

Critics of China's BRI program point out that Chinese loan agreements lack transparency and that contracts sometimes serve China's interests in a racketeering way, oblivious to local concerns. Sri Lanka, for instance, after having failed to meet its debt obligations to China, ceded the port of Hambantota to Beijing. Venezuela delivers oil to China instead of its worthless currency. Ecuador, in the first full year of Xi's presidency, already was exporting 90% of its oil to China, perhaps even below the world market price. In addition, Ecuador cannot seem to prevent the rape of its marine life just on the edge of its sovereign maritime economic zone by hundreds of Chinese fishing boats near the Galapagos Islands. "They just pull up everything!" said a sea captain who asked not to be named.

Critics also accuse China of favoring BRI contracts with countries that have authoritarian regimes. Beijing has invested in Zimbabwe in Africa, Laos in Southeast Asia, and Venezuela in South America. A new, particularly ominous Western criticism is that China distributes its facial recognition technology to BRI-affiliated countries where Chinese surveillance systems have been installed, in states such as Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

China's disregard for the human rights of its own citizens not surprisingly extends to the rights of the citizens of its host nations. China's extraction of raw materials and minerals in Ecuador, for instance, has elicited protests by the Shuar and Waorani natives, concerned about the environment. While some of China's infrastructure projects are beneficial but costly -- such as the construction of a rail line in Kenya from the capital Nairobi to the main port of Mombasa -- others are "white elephants." One such marginally useful project is a road built by Chinese engineers from Uganda's capital Kampala to the country's international airport at Entebbe. The project is expected to improve traffic but will have little to no other benefits -- apart from moving local resources to China.

An additional shortcoming of the massive outlay of Chinese loans that finance infrastructure projects are that host nations are forced to put up with what CCP Chairman Xi calls "Chinese characteristics." When Beijing settles on an infrastructure project, large numbers of Chinese workers arrive in the host country, establish their own living area, complete the project and then leave. There is little or no hiring of local workers or training of locals in skills that could exact a benefit from the extended presence of China's skilled professionals. Some Chinese teams even bring their own chefs and rarely engage in social activities with the citizens of the host nation.

The objectives of China's global BRI programs are clearly as much strategic and political as they are economic. BRI projects seem not designed so much to win new friends as to win new dependents, especially in areas either neglected by the West or in the Western sphere of influence.

The ultimate objective of the global dimension of China's BRI enterprise appears to be geared toward replacing the existing political, military and economic dimension of the West's liberal democratic order -- again not surprisingly -- with one dominated solely by the Communist Party of China.

Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16396/china-debt-trap-diplomacy

Why Does Monaco Exist?

This week, I walked the length of a country. As much as I would like you to imagine that I have completed some great feat of athleticism, it should be made clear that the country in question was Monaco.

Ned Donovan Jul 30, 2020 6 7

You all know Monaco. It’s the fabulously rich principality on the southern coast of France. A sovereign state with 30,000 residents and no arable land, oil wells, or income tax. There are 500 police officers who I watched zealously give out tickets to visiting French motorists speeding through its two miles of roads, as there is no other real petty crime to deal with.

Of the 30,000 or so residents, only 6,000 are actually citizens, the Monégasque. The rest are wealthy foreign residents keen to take advantage of its lenient tax system. The few real Monégasque reap the benefits as the state subsidises their rent and helps them find jobs. They are, however, banned from playing in the country’s most famous attraction, the Monte Carlo Casino.

I only spent a few hours in Monaco, mostly spent eating pistachio ice cream and trying to understand why it exists. The reason is quite simple, and must be credited to the ruling Grimaldi family who seized Monaco in the 13th century disguised as Franciscan monks hiding swords under their habits. From then on the Grimaldis convinced each European hegemon in turn let them stay in charge.

Not being a gambler, I went to Monaco because it’s a microstate and microstates fascinate me. Others in the club include places like San Marino, Liechtenstein, and Andorra. Stubborn places too small to worry about as the world streamlined. These microstates are survivors of the otherwise forgotten nations that once littered Europe and the world. The great irony, though, is that while Monaco and her sister microstates’ freedom depended on their absurdity in the eye of the world’s great powers, they have outlasted them all.

Monaco was granted sovereignty in the 1860s by Emperor Napoleon III of France, deposed a few years later. San Marino received its independence from the Roman Empire in the 4th Century, while Andorra was split off from the long forgotten Kingdom of Aragon in the 13th century. None of these great potentates would ever have imagined that the tiny stubs of countries they took pity on would have legacies much longer than their own. Yet today, San Marino competes in Eurovision and the Roman Empire does not.

Thinking about it in this way, it becomes much easier to see the possibility of say, an independent Scotland, or a political federation of states in Europe. While considered fantasy by their critics, both were realities incredibly recently.

In his fantastic book Vanished Kingdoms, Norman Davies says that “the lifespan of the even the mightiest state is finite.” Every single country we take for granted now may pass, and before we may even realise. But whatever happens, I am sure Monaco and its pistachio ice cream will survive.

https://neddonovan.substack.com/p/why-does-monaco-exist?

‘They want us to obey the rules of their club’: Michael Gove attacks EU over Brexit talks

Michael Gove has attacked the EU over its stance in the ongoing Brexit talks, saying it wants Britain to “obey the rules of their club even though we are no longer members”.

James Morris

Senior news reporter, Yahoo News UK

Yahoo News UK19 May 2020   (Note the date of this article)

Gove was hauled into the House of Commons on Tuesday to answer an urgent question about the third round of negotiations on the UK and EU’s future relationship, which took place last week.

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office minister told MPs it will be “difficult” to reach an agreement “while the EU maintains such an ideological approach”.

It comes after Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, launched another blistering attack on Boris Johnson’s government on Friday, saying: “The UK will have to be more realistic… you cannot have the best of both worlds.”

Michael Gove hit back following Michel Barnier's criticism of the UK. (Parliamentlive.tv/Getty Images)

Gove told the Commons the discussions were “constructive” and that consensus exists on issues such as a free trade agreement, law enforcement and aviation.

However, he added: “There remain some areas where we have significant difference of principle, notably on fisheries, governance arrangements and the so-called level playing field [a term used by the EU as part of its calls for fair and competitive trade].

“The EU essentially wants us to obey the rules of their club – even though we are no longer members – and they want the same access to our fishing grounds as they currently enjoy, while restricting our access to their markets.

“It remains difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement while the EU maintains such an ideological approach.

“But we believe an agreement is possible if flexibility is shown… but success depends on the EU recognising that the UK is a sovereign equal.”

The UK, after leaving the EU on 31 January, is currently in a transition period in which the two sides have until 31 December to agree their future relationship.

During the transition period, the UK effectively remains a member of the EU. The transition period can be extended for up to two years, but Downing Street must give notice of this by 30 June.

Because of the coronavirus crisis, there have been calls for Number 10 to extend the transition period, with leaders primarily focused on the pandemic. However, the government has insisted it will not be seeking an extension.

Boris Johnson fought the 2019 general election on a promise to "get Brexit done". (AFP via Getty Images)

If a future relationship agreement is not reached with the EU, the UK will then trade with the EU on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms – the same as what a “no-deal” Brexit would have entailed.

One more round of talks is scheduled for the week beginning 1 June, before a high-level meeting later in June to review the progress made.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/michael-gove-attacks-eu-brexit-135219535.html

Brussels making Brexit negotiations 'unnecessarily difficult', UK's chief negotiator says

Brussels has made Brexit negotiations "unnecessarily difficult" by insisting that the UK signs up to state aid and fisheries rules, David Frost has warned.

Amy Jones

The Telegraph22 August 2020

David Frost and Michael Barnier - AFP

The UK’s chief negotiator said that “any further substantive work” was being delayed by Brussels’ creating roadblocks out of the two particular areas of concern.

It comes as Mr Frost’s EU’s counterpart Michel Barnier accused the British Government of “wasting valuable time” in trade talks with the European Union. After the seventh round of Brexit talks ended in deadlock, a senior negotiating official for the UK insisted that "it's not us that's slowing it down".

The source said: “The process block now is the EU’s insistence that we must accept their position on state aid and fisheries before we can talk about anything else. We’re obviously not going to do that.

“We are ready to talk about everything and it's not us that’s slowing things down.”

The official said that EU negotiators were “still insisting that we must accept arrangements that are rather like the Commons Fisheries Policy”.

EU negotiators have demanded a status quo deal, which would allow their fleet the same access to UK waters as if Britain was not leaving the CFP, while Britain has demanded a Norway-style fishing deal with annual negotiations on fishing quotas.

“It’s in their hands to move to a more realistic position that recognises us as an independent coastal state,” the UK source added. The seventh round of free trade negotiations were overshadowed by rows over migration and the rights of British haulage firms to operate inside the EU single market.

Road haulage is one policy area that has repeatedly been singled out by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator where the UK is trying to obtain "single market-like benefits".

“Why should we give access to our roads to road transport firms, which would not be subject to the same rules in terms of minimum standards and safety?", Mr Barnier asked.

“The need for a level playing field is not going to go away,” he added. “It is a non-negotiable precondition to grant access to our market.”

There has also been little progress on the UK Government's calls to carve out a new arrangement by which it can send unwanted migrants back to Europe from 2021.

Downing Street wants to replace the "inflexible and rigid" Dublin regulation which states that migrants should have their asylum claim examined in the first EU country they enter.

Brussels diplomats have suggested the issue could be held back for future leverage in negotiations.

"Without a deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK, the chances for an agreement on migration are rather slim,” said one senior EU diplomat.

"You may like it or not, but Brexit means Brexit."

However, a senior UK official said the real reason there had been no progress on the issue was because of internal conflict between the EU’s 27 nations.

A senior UK negotiating official said an agreement had not been found because there "isn't agreement inside the EU on this".

"We were open to agreeing a returns agreement with the EU and we’ve been continually suggesting that," they said. In an effort to break the impasse Mr Frost presented a draft free trade agreement during a private dinner with Mr Barnier this week.

“It was a very nice dinner and as always we had courteous and friendly discussions in which we don't hide the significant differences between our positions,” a UK official said. Mr Frost conceded after the latest set of talks that a deal would "not be easy to achieve", a sentiment matched by his counterpart.

“Too often this week it felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards,” Mr Barnier told reporters in Brussels.

“I simply do not understand why we are wasting valuable time. At this stage, an agreement between the UK and the EU remains unlikely.”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/brussels-making-brexit-negotiations-unnecessarily-174719018.html

Boris Johnson's ‘oven-ready’ Brexit deal has gone off, and it’s the oven’s fault

No progress, then, in the latest round of Brexit talks, with both sides blaming the other.

Would you really want it any other way? How quaint to think that, once upon a time, this kind of thing used to be maddening. Now it serves as a comforting reminder of times past.

Tom Peck

The Independent22 August 2020

AFP/Getty

Absolutely zero advancement in the Brexit talks is the only constant in our lives. Once upon a time, Britain’s Trident submarine commanders were instructed to listen out for the BBC World Service, and if it could not be picked up, it was reasonable to assume the country no longer existed, and it would be up to them to retaliate.

Today, complete Brexit paralysis is the most reliable certainty out there, to the extent that should any meaningful breakthrough actually occur, it could accidentally trigger a nuclear war.

We know where we are with Brexit, which has already become a kind of I Love the 2016s late-night Channel 5 nostalgia fest, in which the last 19 remaining members of Goldie Lookin Chain sit in front of a green screen background spitting scripted lols about the “Breaking Point” poster.

The never-ending Brexit s**tshow is all so reassuringly familiar, even though the curtain still hasn’t actually gone up.

Back when we chose to shoot ourselves in the foot, shooting oneself in the foot was considered a stupid thing to do. Now, it’s barely worth even worrying about. From the range of available options these days, you’d probably take it.

Michel Barnier gave a press conference saying he was “disappointed and surprised” by the lack of progress, as he has done almost every month since he was appointed the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, shortly after the 1815 Congress of Vienna, when he was just 28 years old.

His UK counterpart, David Frost, doesn’t give press conferences. Instead, he issues statements, then holds anonymous conference calls with journalists on which the things he says cannot be attributed to him. This is the Johnson-Cummings method: blatant untruths can be namelessly inserted into the general information ecosystem, for which no one can ever actually be held accountable, because no one ever actually said them.

The last time anyone from the UK government gave an actual press conference about Brexit was on 24 January, when Boris Johnson went to Brussels to sign his “oven-ready” deal, for which it turns out the oven is not ready.

The UK’s current strategy is to make unreasonable demands then brand the EU unreasonable. All Frost can ever say is that all he is asking for is the same terms the EU has given to Canada, Japan and various others with whom it has signed a free trade agreement.

And all Barnier can ever point out is that the UK is not Canada, is not Japan. This time, he explained that the UK won’t sign up to EU standards on haulage, won’t have EU tachographs fitted, won’t obey rules on working hours, it just wants to make its own rules then come into the EU and do its own thing, undercutting EU businesses, and can’t understand why the EU isn’t having it.

Because trade still remains all about proximity, and it will always be so. It is why the UK does more trade with Belgium than it does with China, and it is why the ever-unquotable Frost is talking disingenuous garbage when he says that all the UK wants is a simple free trade agreement and the EU won’t do it.

Johnson and co still want to have their cake and eat it. Failing that, they want to blame the EU for the straightforward impossibility of their being able to deliver on the lies they told four years and a hundred thousand lifetimes ago.

And when it all goes wrong, will anyone even care?

Read more

Johnson has 10 Brexit options to ponder before the end of the year

Is the UK finally ready to blink in Brexit talks with the EU?

Charlie Mullins on furlough, Brexit and running for mayor of London

Why state aid rules are proving a dealbreaker in Brexit negotiations

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/boris-johnsons-oven-ready-brexit-144423262.html

UK in recession as economy slumps 20%

The UK economy has fallen into recession after a huge contraction in the first six months of the year - which included the biggest quarterly drop in growth on record.

August 12, 2020, 6:19 PM GMT+8

Official figures on Wednesday (August 12) showed the economy shrank by 20.4 per cent in the second quarter - that's the the largest contraction reported by any major economy so far.

In the first quarter, the economy contracted by a much smaller 2.2 per cent - reflecting the lockdown which started in March.

There are some signs of recovery, though.

Britain's Office for National Statistics said GDP grew by 8.7 per cent in the month of June alone.

And that's despite non-essential shops in England not reopening until mid June, with pubs and restaurants remaining shut until July.

June's rebound was just above economists' expectations - in a Reuters poll - for an 8 per cent rise.

The level of output in June, though, was almost 17 per cent below its level last year.

That compared with a 23 per cent fall in May.

Last week, the Bank of England said it didn't expect the UK economy to regain its previous size until the final quarter of next year.

And it warned unemployment was likely to rise much further.

According to tax data, employers have already shed more than 700,000 jobs since March.

https://money.yahoo.com/uk-recession-economy-slumps-20-101955750.html

REUTERS BUSINESS NEWS HEADLINES - 12 AUG TO 17 AUG 2020

BUSINESS NEWS HEADLINES

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(This 14th August story corrects to remove inaccurate phrase in quote in 22nd paragraph)

4:13AM EDT

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3:49AM EDT

Hong Kong commerce secretary says will discuss 'made in China' labelling with U.S.: CNBC

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3:36AM EDT

Take Five: Impasse!

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1:16AM EDT

Factbox: Oil refiners shut plants as demand losses seen continuing

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1:01AM EDT

Thailand plans more stimulus measures this month: Deputy PM

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12:51AM EDT

New Zealand new wage subsidy scheme expected to cost $333 million

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AUG 16 2020

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AUG 16 2020

China central bank injects 700 billion yuan of MLF loans, rates steady for fourth month

China's central bank on Monday rolled over maturing medium-term loans while keeping borrowing costs unchanged for the fourth straight month.

AUG 16 2020

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AUG 16 2020

British home sales hit record after lockdown, Rightmove says

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AUG 16 2020

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AUG 13 2020

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German companies expect business to return to normal in an average of 11 months, the Ifo economic institute said on Thursday.

AUG 13 2020

UK life insurers pay 90 million pounds in COVID-19 claims: trade body

British life insurers paid 90 million pounds ($117.18 million) in claims related to deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the three months to end-May, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Thursday.

AUG 12 2020

UK housing boom gathers pace, but fears of a bust grow too: RICS

The rebound in Britain's housing market gathered more pace in July with a measure of property prices turning positive for the first time since the coronavirus crisis engulfed the country, a survey showed on Thursday.

AUG 12 2020

Euro zone industry output rebound disappoints for second straight month

Euro zone industrial production rose in June, official data showed on Wednesday, but the rebound after coronavirus-induced record drops in March and April was below expectations for a second straight month and slowed from May.

AUG 12 2020

UK says trade talks with U.S. continue to make positive progress

Britain said its latest round of trade talks with the United States made positive progress in many areas, and that both sides agreed negotiations should continue at pace in the coming months.

AUG 12 2020

EU reinstates trade duties on some Cambodian imports over human rights violations

The European Union on Wednesday withdrew preferential market access to Cambodian products such as garments and footwear, hitting about a fifth of the country's exports to the bloc over "serious and systematic concerns related to human rights".

AUG 12 2020

UK economy faces long climb back to health after historic 20% crash

Britain's economy shrank by a record 20.4% in the second quarter when the coronavirus lockdown was tightest, the most severe contraction reported by any major economy so far, with a wave of job losses set to hit later in 2020.

AUG 12 2020

UK finance minister Sunak sees promising signs after record GDP hit

British finance minister Rishi Sunak said there were some "promising signs" that the country's economy was recovering from its record economic crash during the coronavirus lockdown which was announced earlier on Wednesday.

AUG 12 2020