Once you’re in their debt you’re fucked.
this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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The politicians are fine. China probably just bribes them in foreign currency and they sign the deal without even blinking at the interest rates. (Chad has a corruption index of 20 out of 100 with Senegal just a little better at 43.)
China isn't doing this for the money. They do it to keep those countries under their thumb. It's more like, "Yeah, you owe us a billion dollars, but we'll forgive half of it and give you a fifty-year extension on the rest because we're just the best of pals!" And then your country is expected to vote with China in the UN for the next three decades. On top of that, it makes the Chinese government seem really rich and powerful, which is helpful for both its internal and external politics.
China is trying to buy its way to the top like the US did in the mid-twentieth century.
Nah. These countries are acquiring debt from China because many of these undertakings would not be underwritten by other entities. It's not because these other entities hate having countries in their debt - it's because of various factors that make recovery of that debt less likely. Corruption, local instability, rapidly changing governments, low ROI, etc etc etc. Or, to put it in terms of scale, "When you owe the bank a million dollars, you have a problem. When you owe the bank a billion dollars, the bank has a problem."
Chad has some decent gold fields. They aren't the biggest the world, but they are substantial enough to draw attention. The cheap labor and zero environmental regulation is a value multiplyer as well.
When you add a little flavor the to pot by destabilizing the country and giving the west a bit of a headache, it's now even more attractive.
When you add a little flavor the to pot by destabilizing the country
Ha. Well, that's exactly the problem, though, isn't it? Many countries in Africa are resource-rich, but instability makes them less appealing for investment. There's a reason that Botswana, for example, which is stable and resource-rich, hasn't taken major Chinese loans - it hasn't needed an alternate source, because it can prove a certain degree of stability.
Oh. When I said "the west" I was squarely pointing the finger at France. China is playing the longer game there because Russia has stationed Wagner down there already. It benefits both Russia and China if the population is focused on removing French influence. China gets a long term investment hedge against France and Russia gets more cheap mercs for Ukraine.
Now, I don't really want to spend much time doing a full research project on what is basically a game of thrones'ish style side bet. It's insanely complicated, I would imagine. After a few African countries went full-on coup d'état a few months ago, I realized there was much more going on.
Edit: I wasn't downvoting you. I suspect that some people might be trying to launch some instability of their own. Lulz.
Edit: I wasn’t downvoting you. I suspect that some people might be trying to launch some instability of their own. Lulz.
Oh, I didn't assume you were. I assumed there are just some wumaos getting upset that China's boots aren't being unconditionally licked.