My Say: In the new Cold War, a 'debt trap' label for Chinese loans | The Edge Markets

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on April 18, 2022 – April 24, 2022. – A + A As China increases lending to other developing countries, charges that these loans lead to a "debt trap" are growing quickly. As it greatly augments financing for development while other sources continue to decline, condemnation of China's loans is being weaponised in the new Cold War. Debt-trap diplomacy? The catchy term "debt-trap diplomacy" was coined by Indian geo-strategist Brahma Chellaney in 2017. According to him, China lends to extract economic or political concessions when a debtor country is unable…