Article

2018-04-01 Southeast Asia

Laos on a fast track to a China debt trap

[ATimes] Laos is one of eight global countries considered of “particular concern” for a future debt crisis, according to a recent report by the Center for Global Development (CGD), a Washington-based economic think tank.

The main cause of concern is the small poor country’s big rich plans for a US$6.7 billion high-speed railway that China is promoting as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The project’s cost represents a quarter of Laos’ current gross domestic product (GDP).

One-third of that sum will be covered by a China-Lao joint venture company, of which the Lao government will contribute roughly 30%, or around US$700 million. Around US$480 of that amount will come from an Export-Import Bank of China loan. The remaining US$220 million will be drawn from the state budget.

But, as the CGD report notes, “the financial terms for many elements of the project remain a secret.” The opaque terms on the remaining US$6 billion is raising concerns about the concessions China may be able to wrest in the case of default. The project is scheduled for completion in 2021.

Beijing has already notched various long-term land concessions for plantation agricultural and other commercial ventures that have facilitated fast migration of Chinese workers and entrepreneurs. The train, designed to connect China to Laos and then through Thailand to mainland Southeast Asia, will pave the way for even faster Chinese migration southward.

China - the new Colonial Power. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...!

Posted by 3dc 2018-04-01 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11138 views ] Top
File under: Commies

#1 Don't borrow money you can't pay back. Easy. It's not like they're invading with gunboats. You know, like the West did.

Posted by Lumpy Jones3477 2018-04-01 01:57|| 2018-04-01 01:57|| Front Page Top

#2 plans for a US$6.7 billion high-speed railway that China is promoting

So that's how China plans to take over California.

Posted by Blinky Uneatch1846 2018-04-01 07:16|| 2018-04-01 07:16|| Front Page Top

#3 It'll connect Laos to Bakersfield

Posted by Frank G 2018-04-01 10:43|| 2018-04-01 10:43|| Front Page Top

#4 Interested in China? Look at the Ancient Chinese books translated by Ralph D. Sawyer, fascinating insights! I first ran across his "The Seven Military Classics" years ago through a book club and was hooked...
Anyway, this is Chinese Diplomacy 1001 straight from their 'Lifan Yuan', the Office of Barbarian Control. Hook them on trinkets, corrupt their leaders, and turn them into puppets -- with millennia of practice the Chinese are very skilled at this.

Posted by magpie 2018-04-01 15:16|| 2018-04-01 15:16|| Front Page Top

#5 One line will run from Kunming, China, to Singapore. Another line will run from Assam, India, to the Vietnamese port of Danang. The area where the two lines will intersect, in northern Thailand, will presumably become a prosperous area.

Posted by Lone Ranger 2018-04-01 20:17|| 2018-04-01 20:17|| Front Page Top

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