This is a great article that shows the Chinese dominance over developing countries around the world. The sleeping lion is about to wake up.
45
When Manhattan was bought from the Native Indians for $24, that was a great deal - a la Trump I suppose.
When China leased the Port for a few $ Billions, that is Sri Lankan "coughing up".
Despite her middle eastern name, the writer has a marvelous command of the English Language.
20
Actually this was a great example of journalism at its finest. Thorough and well researched, it filled in a lot of missing piece in the story of the port built on the edge of nowhere. Kudos to Maria and the NYT.
61
What this article does not properly explain is how China got to this stage in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. China's influence in Sri Lanka is nothing new. During the Mao Tse Tung rule in China, the two countries had a special relationship. Socialist leaning political parties coming into power strengthened to support that relationship. It was not just with China, but with the former USSR as well. For a very long time, China was busy exporting the Mao doctrine and their communist ideology. Besides the Tamil Tiger uprising, there has been unrest in the country from time to time, arising from student riots, leading to attempts by such movements to overthrow the government.
What is interesting is to see how China is behaving today. This article is highlighting the places where China is helping to construct ports and harbors, around the world. Then, you see their involvement in the South China Sea, claiming islands and developing them into military bases. Is China really serious about helping developing countries? Is it just economic in nature, or is this a disguise?
What exactly is their motive?
22
Exactly the same as that of the British in our Empire building days...
36
I am Ethiopian-American, and the Chinese are all over Ethiopia's business these days, and this article makes me worry. Are the Chinese undertaking a softer and polished version of colonization while the United States and Europe quietly cedes the global stage?
72
Like Genghis Khan’s Mongol hoard China will spread itself too thin and fall apart. In the mean time millions of hectares of crucial habitat is being wiped out and broken up by roads and bridges that go nowhere.
33
This story is not merely of academic curiosity to Americans! The large U.S. air and naval installation in Diego Garcia is too close to America's comfort. The nearby Maldives Island is under an a pro-China regime. Debt laden Pakistan too is letting China take away 90% of the revenue from the Gwadar Port.
China is the new East India Company --- except that what EIC took 200 years (from 1600 AD to 1858 AD), China has accomplished in less than a decade!
57
This article can be read in two different prespectives. First one on a very positive note. A tiny little picturistic tourism thriving country trying to make exponential growth in building back thier infrastructure post war to utilize their geo strategic advantageous location in the Indian ocean midway between two half of the world. The much needed capital needs to be from outside. President Rajapakshe explored the choices and choses Chinese, as they were building the port associated other social infrastructures as well. Good news. Idea well conceived. No complaints. Second understanding of this article. A country must think many a times before it expands its economy at the behest of another foreign country's capital and resources. There is nothing called free lunch in this market economy. When money is tying your hands to improve your country's infrastructure, it is wiser to plan how to generate it through the other long term choices one have without a loan. May be by Improving tourism, boosting textile exports etc. Frugality is a forgotten word in a no nonsense connected world. Sri Lanka can still be a happy Bhutan in the South of India with all its wonderful people and resources they have. Unfortunately out of these two theories I quoted, first one seems to have more takers in Island. Consequences of this is something Sri Lanka needs to live with. Chinese are there to stay and will consume your best sea food fresh for the next two generations.
38
Yet another biased article about China, filled with fear from the western perspective. Why not mentioning how much China helped on improving the local economy, how many jobs could be added in the long term, and how a drastically upgraded infrastructure would benefit the life of its future generations? The Chinese invests in local roads, ports, bridges, schools, airports, of course they are not philanthropists, so what's so wrong about some geopolitical gains? There is no free lunch in the world, it's a win-win situation from their perspective. By the way, Sri Lanka has been militarily invaded by India, and has been refused aid by the West-controlled international banks, it is us who turned them away.
"A way to subjugate a country is through either the sword or debt. China has chosen the latter.” Maybe China should just go with the sword, like the U.S. does?
14
The issue is that there has been no benefit to the people. The jobs to build the infrastructure went directly to Chinese and no Sri Lankans. The airport is virtually abandoned. Newly hired workers as well as vendors who set up in the airport were either let go or pulled out because the location of the airport was not attractive to inbound visitors. The Colombo port proximity to the capital was more attractive than Hambantota. Plus the additional offices and infrastructure that would be required to cater to the ports, which weren't all part of the deal with China and left up to Sri Lank to build, could not materialize because of lack of funding and the high level of debt. Plus, much of whatever monetary investment China made in these projects did not recirculate in the economy. So much of it was used by the corrupt regime to fund their vanity projects and solidify power than actually helping the people. Highways have been gone unused and/or are already deteriorating.
The massive debt that the country has accumulated does not leave enough income to be reinvested in the economy. Each year almost 90% has to go back to paying debt. Certain locations more prominently observable by the international community were developed to give the impression of improvement, but the rural communities and poorer districts still suffer extensively. Corruption is so rampant that every opportunity provided is exploited for self-gain. Need I go on?
37
While China took control of the port in Sri Lanka through debt trickery, another port is occupied by the US government a little closer to home: the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and 28,000 acres of land around it in Cuba. This seizure of Cuban territory was carried out in 1903 in the wake of the Spanish-American War against the will of the Cuban people. Still today, Washington refuses to return the base and the surrounding land to Cuba. Washington’s illegal occupation gives cover to other big-power land grabs to this day.
27
Why is this different from any other business decision? You take risk, you pay.
Lured by huge billboards here in Ontario Canada to come and invest in Michigan, we did exactly the same. But Michigan did not do full disclosure about the security situation there.
For us, sitting 4 hours away it became uneconomic to protect our assets in crime-ridden Michigan. Finally, to cut our losses we simply had to walk away from our million $ investment.
Should we blame Michigan or ourselves?
Sri Lankans took a risk beyond their measure and lost. Why blame China for it?
15
it seems China has taken some lessons from the IMF.
If Americans and Europeans keep running current account trade deficits with China, China will keep funding strategically significant infrastructure; those euros, dollars and pounds have to used somehow, and not just in financing American government budget deficits.
If, in twenty years or so, the US Navy is supplanted - or even defeated - in the Pacific and Indian Oceans by the PLA Navy because the latter's ships have hegemony over those seas, you'll know how it happened.
It's called buying your hangman's rope.
40
Two points - the story appearing in the business section appears to have been hacked - the headlines are in Chinese. Second, this is right out of the playbook outlined, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," which details how some U.S. companies indentured Central and South American countries with debt. BTW - it is the same thing the Brits did with the colonies.
11
This is what happens when the United States and free democratic countries are either too weak or unwilling to lead. The difference between China's trying to create a sphere of influence and past efforts perpetrated by the US is that China is an autocratic expansionist country with no respect for human rights and no respect for other peoples. Just look at their only true allies - North Korea and Pakistan. Look at what they've done to Tibet. While Trump wastes his time fighting with our friends and allies, the world's enemy China continues to get stronger by locking up resources around the world and stealing western intellectual property in an attempt to dominate the free world. Fighting this will take a unified response from all the free countries of the world, with US leadership.
24
When our two parties can't cooperate to each other, here comes a wolf : he want to take over the world .
15
A Chinese nuclear submarine docked at Hanbantota port is no threat to the West. As the crow flies Hanbantota is about 100 miles to India. Timed deliberately to coincide with Abe's arrival in Sri Lanka China sought to tell both India and Japan that its reach is long and it has the guile and the cunning to thwart the planned Malabar exercises.
7
Hypothetical question...what happens if Sri Lanka just decides to either not pay up or nationalize the port?
Can China impose significant sanctions?
14
There is a certain historical irony in China creating Treaty Ports.
23
At some point, China will face a can't-pay/won't-pay debtor nation. What will it do then? Send the gunboats in?
14
A lot of people seem to be swinging this conversation in the direction of what is "fair" or not. They argue, "Europeans/Americans have had empires so why not China as well?" But that is a foolish question. Powerful countries throughout history have invariably ended up controlling the internal affairs of smaller weaker states. It isn't unexpected that the Chinese are expanding their global influence.
The question is whether China's rise is in our interests? Is it in your interest? Some aspects of it, like expanded global economic growth are demonstrably beneficial. But other aspects of China's rise, particularly their expanded military and geopolitical power, are dangerous. People who turn conversations about international relations into a question of historical "fairness" are clearly misunderstanding the game that is being played.
23
There's nothing mysterious about this situation.
Mr Rajapaksa was an honors graduate from Trump University.
Xi Jinping has survived the Chinese communist party purges and surges.
Who do you think would get the better of this situation?
8
This sounds somewhat similar to how we secured Guantanamo in Cuba for U.S. use. The only difference is actually huge. We killed Cubans and went to war to win Guantanamo's lease. The Chinese used a much more civilized route.
9
Is America seeking to build greater trade ties with South Asia?
No.
Did America pursue skilled diplomacy for mutual benefit with Sri Lanka?
No.
Did China?
Yes.
Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Reward requires labor. The US is lazy.
18
Per the usual with the Chinese, they are copying what was done in the past. China is doing the British version of gaining ports like Hong Kong. But the British provided a nest for things to happen. And Hong Kong grew with Chinese people. I don't see any of the ports China is accessing growing with locals on board. And if any of the countries China is financially oppressing gets a backbone, as certainly will happen, this would be further bad news for China.
Add to this the opiate styled drugs that can be brought via China and shipped to anyone anywhere (not at all illegal in China...check out the dark web). This parallels the British use of Opium back when. But modern media/governments have been following this and it will never reach a crisis stage as China hopes.
Then, there is the textile take-over of the world market per the British method. But it is being undercut by other developing countries.
The world is more complex today than when these "initiatives" were used. They will carry China for a while, but not anywhere near as long as the British Empire...which in itself was not a Thousand Year Reich which Xi, as a Hitler wanna-be, fashions in his own form in taking over the Rhineland (South China Sea) along with the slow motion Anschluss that took over Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang Province (going back a couple of centuries here..but it was independent in 1949). Truly, China today is Fascist Imperialism riding on capitalism.
17
At least it is done peacefully, as opposed to the way the US uses.
Starting with bombs and terrorism, then bringing in the corrupt US companies.
9
The USA should be making these investments, but we are worried about Gays, Abortion and defending religious social issues.
Plus the current POTUS cannot think globally, so we will go backwards........
Oh well
22
So does the NYTimes have a solution? When trillions of dollars are owned by the Chinese Communist Government, did we believe that China wouldn't try to take over the world? China owns a lot of American land, and continues to buy. But, the US gave them the money in order to relieve the pain of the last recession (most recently) and in order to play nice as US companies eyed the buying potential of a few billion people. Early on, US companies were welcomed with open arms and naively went in for the 'big bucks' from a new market. They believed their proprietary businesses were protected. What could go wrong. Trump isn't going about it correctly, as he's too stupid to understand complex issues like world trade. But he has a point, one that even Trump, Bush, and Clinton saw - the Chinese were dumping and controlling their currency against the agreements and banking laws established for world trade. They knew too that China was stealing trade secrets. But they didn't know what to do and the UN refused to even consider sanctions. Again, what would the NYTimes suggest? That the US build a port? Make a loan that could never be paid? Scoop up the rest of the world via loans and investments and then run in to collect by stealing land and waterways?
2
Now take a look back at the Vietnam War. If you are still asking why the U.S. was in that war after reading this article, you have the brain of a child who believes that the most important food in a grocery store is the candy in the check-out line. America needs to get its head out of the clouds. Your financial survival is being destroyed by people can't see their noses in front of their faces.
1
As China gets bigger the small countries fall by the way side and then the USA will be just another small nation with the likes of Trump in a 1 to 2 term sell us to the highest bidder and make his family a few extra bucks for his golf retirement. That he takes a lot more than Obama ever did. Oh and you tax payers you supply Trump and family the cash as he vacations at a golf club with his name on it. Thanks folks for hiring a golfer for POTUS. Next time get a swimmer there is a pool in the white house.
As far as Sri Lanka, They hired a corrupt leader who sold his country out and now China owns a nice Port for 99 years and though it will give t hem some goods, it might mean more of them work for their chinese overlords. Welcome to the chinese century.
11
Refresh my memory, how long does the American lease on Guantanamo run?
7
China, Russia, Saudi, Egypt, etc. all have savvy authoritarians. America got stuck with the stupid one - don't it just figure. Say bye bye to USA as the country we knew and certainly to our democracy. Tyrants Rule!
10
What a shame. Mahinda Rajapaksa literally sold his family's silver to fund this unproductive gamble. Hope Sri Lankans remember this when they look back and wonder how their country became a Chinese vassal state.
6
Long ago the British, with a gun on Chinese head, obtained a 150 year lease on Hong Kong.
After Hitler broke England's back China could have evicted the British easily, as India did the Portuguese in Goa. China honored the agreement.
At least China did not have a gun at Sri Lanka's head.
7
Is Sri Lanka voluntarily allowing to be colonialzed by a foreign power ?
Countries, who might go belly up, will do anything to survive & corrupt leadership will make it easier. If China can standup to America, others are just easy pray.
I hope that you would be kind enough to write such a long article about the Number 1 National Disaster in Sri Lanka, which is the deforestation of "Wilpattu national reserve". Thanks to the numbskuls who destroy the country like that, I wonder what would be left for China or any other country to take away from us ever.
4
Anyway we could stop the Chinese aggression? We got to take care China now! Before China moves to the Hawaii area.
2
The port of Darwin in Australia was leased to the Chinese. Months after the deal was finalised a few federal politicians expressed concerns about security issues.
While China spreads its influence, nations like the US and Australia cut their foreign aid budgets, and wonder why China has stepped into the vacuum they created.
12
A major difference between the Chinese Approach to third World investment as compared with the US or Western approach is most Chinese Companies that invest abroad also offer to build up the infrastructure of that countries including railroad, highways, dams, etc.; projects that are usually financed via the World Bank at comparatively lower interest rates, but which demands under other forms of compliance from these developing countries.
The investment funds from China provide an alternative to these developing economies, and for the Chinese, a potentially better investment than US treasury Securities or the Euro.
Unlike other Western Multinationals, large Chinese firms are accustomed to thinking about its investment in a more socialist term-- building factories mean also building roads, hospitals, schools, homes, etc., and that approach is fundamentally more attractive to developing economies than Western companies that are only interested in extracting resources or hire cheap labor. That these countries are run by leaders that pursue projects with other political and financial interests in mind is not the Chinese fault.
17
The Soviet Union had many similar deals with its East European satellite countries. With restive local populations, the Soviets had to use army tanks on numerous occasions to enforce their (unequal) treaty rights. It would be naive to expect a much different outcome between these land-lease deals for cash between China and Sri Lanka.
China separated from Sri Lanka by thousands of sea miles, cannot even mount meaningful military threats. On occasions when it decides to browbeat the Sri Lankans with a show of superior naval power, it would only arouse and intensify local opposition. That would not be good for relations between the two countries in the long run or even the short run.
Days of unequal treaties signed or arrived at with the aid of corrupt local politicians are gone, more or less. Even where they come about these days, their shelf life is not very long.
4
And the US has similar agreements with its former colony, the Phillippines, concurred territories, Hawaii and Guam, defeated enemies, Germany and Japan, and on and on. What is acceptable for one should also be acceptable for others.
5
Sea miles not so relevant when you own a large international airport.
1
While doing some short-term work in Sri Lanka in 2010, I distinctly remember the program coordinator expressing frustration with the US, that we weren't in there supporting their economic development, but instead were the Chinese. He said they would be beholden to the Chinese for years to come...and this article certainly articulates that.
30
A lot of people seem to be swinging this conversation in the direction of what is "fair" or not. They argue, "Europeans/Americans have had empires so why not China as well?" But that isn't the question. Powerful countries throughout history have invariably ended up controlling the internal affairs of smaller weaker states.
The question is whether China's rise is in our interests. Is it in your interest? Some aspects of it, like expanded global economic growth are demonstrably beneficial. But other aspects of China's rise, particularly their expanded military and geopolitical power, are dangerous.
12
Yes, that is the question. I love China -- working hard, half a billion souls lifted out of total poverty. NYT points to the negatives -- but I think OneBeltOneRoad is an incredible venture, and in that respect I've never read anything about the Marshall plan except how generous we were. Perhaps the real question is how we feel about China's rise. Right now its on a knife-edge and we could easily turn strongly against them. I hope that doesn't happen.
2
hence the concern of the "double edged sword" . . . you pay or you pay and unfortunately, corruption and bad government decisions have put everyone in jeopardy. China has every intention of ruling the South China Seas and beyond
1
What strikes me is how history is repeating itself in reverse. China complained bitterly about the British 99-year lease for territory in Hong Kong. That and other foreign enclaves were imperialist occupations forced upon a weaker, less developed country.
Now that China is more powerful, apparently it's OK to force territorial concessions on weaker, less developed countries.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
3
Seems that the Chinese are practicing an aggressive form of dollar diplomacy. Which is a way of hiding Chinese imperialist designs. The story indicates that they took advantage of the Sri Lankan civil war between the Sinhalese and Tamils. The Chinese financed the war by the end. They took advantage of corrupt ruler with loans
and lucrative infrastructure projects that everyone knew Sri Lanka could not pay back. So the Chinese wanted a port even though Colombo was more than adequate. Now the Chinese are making Sri Lanka utilize the port. The Chinese have done this infrastructure improvement and loans in various parts of the world with some success. They seemingly help the country then make demands to pay off their services.
7
Our "alliance." Their "empire." Right?
2
I'm a Sri Lankan with Sinhalese and Tamil heritage. I don't recall any civil war in Sri Lanka. There was a terrorist war from 1980 - 2009.
I know LTTE is portrayed by most western media as a separatist movement. But with LTTE suicide bombers killing innocent Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslims, it was clearly terrorism.
Even though as a Buddhist, I don't agree with war or harming enemies, Sri Lankan army has their duty to protect its borders.
Pres Rajapaksha ignored all feasibility studies to seek Chinese investments because Chinese were happy to pay bribes.
6
Economics 101
From whom did China get the dollars to get "a strategic foothold along a critical commercial and military waterway" ?
The answer: Largely from the US
$ 375.2 Billion in 2017
The dollars that flow from the US to China as the result of the trade deficit are are increasingly used by an more nationalistic Chinese government against the strategic interest of the US.
19
The one, single take-away from this is that China has a strategic vision and pursues it patiently, relentlessly and imaginatively. It doesn't care about propriety, expectations about behavior, human rights violations or any other considerations that impinge on its freedom of movement or its selection of partners. And it is patient, much more patient than democracies, who are typically driven by election cycles, can be. (Actually, if democracies were interested in developing and maintaining a cross-party consensus on what constitutes the national interest, they could, but that isn't happening anymore.) So, China wins. The Mandate of Heaven will be restored and the gweilo put back in their rightful place, the century and a half or so but a hiccup in the vast history of the Middle Kingdom.
15
In March, I visited Sri Lanka on a personal trip, and spent a day in Colombo. I walked north along the waterfront and came upon a mammoth construction project. The main entrance to the site had a large sign exclusively in Chinese. There were other signs, for example a drawing of the necessary safety wear required by workers, that were in Chinese and English. And I saw Chinese workers. It was stunning to see, and very emblematic of China's long reach.
13
This is an important, well-researched investigative piece that deserves to be read widely. The previous Sri Lankan president wished to build monuments to symbolize his greatness like the country's famous ancient kings. China was only too willing to afford him this self-aggrandizement, and knowingly bank-rolled these building projects that would bankrupt the country.
Previously colonized by various European powers, Sri Lanka is being effectively re-colonized by China, and it is not alone. We can assume, tragically, that this story is a harbinger of things to come in the 21st century.
25
China is using unrepayable loans to practice economic colonialism around the world. Besides infrastructure projects, in Africa they have leased great swathes of cropland to grow soybeans exclusively for China, contributing to even more poverty and malnutrition for Africans while improving the Chinese diet. The same is true for Brazil where soybean culture removes cropland from benefitting Brazillians. Our current government seems to be doing everything it can to assure Chinese hegemony.
18
Absolutely. This is very bad. The Chinese are leveraging their economic power in the same way the British did in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are well on the way to creating a world empire the likes of which we haven't seen in a while. The American re-organization of the world was self-interested, but not like this. When all is said and done, Americans, unlike the Chinese of British, have never been an imperial people.
Agree wholeheartedly! While what remains of our government is wasting its time on trivialities and atmospherics (moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, insulting Canada...), the world is being radically re-organized -- and not to our benefit.
Our only hope is that the Trump supporters who shout so loudly about making America great again will be able press their politicized Jesus into the service of that end. However, I am not sure what good that will do. He was never much of a long-term strategic thinker, and he did not really care for world domination.
Maybe we should ask the Chinese to build our high speed railroad in our country since we cannot do so ourselves. We do not have any political will to improve our infrastructure. All we do is borrowing money from tomorrow to pay entitlement and fighting foreign wars. Wake up America, let's get our house in order before other countries replace us as number one.
52
It may be too late. The election of Donald Trump is further evidence of the rot in the political system, that runs deep. It's just a reflection of the people who make America today.
1
I think China's point is that it's not about getting your own house in order. Rather, it's about helping others get theirs in order in exchange for power and influence. That's actually how the American Empire was built. Something we seem to have forgotten.
1
A terrible, mindboggling story. If state-controlled Chinese companies and entities interfered as blatantly in the 2015 election as the article says, the new government should have an excellent case to use its sovereign power to (i) default on the debt, especially the extortionary terms agreed to by the former president, and (ii) expel the Chinese interests from their country. But of course a small and poor country would need powerful allies for such a stand, and candidates for that role are presumably either not interested or are unwanted. The international system still resembles Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf more than the 21st century.
12
You are borrowing money to pay for tax breaks of $1.5 billion to the top 10 per cent. You could build your infrastructure if you wanted to. In fact, your current president promised he would build"beautiful" infrastructure.
6
Of course when I read this, I knew at once that this was a biased, opinionated article to muddy Mahinda Rajapakse. This is an easy way to show the west, that China is the bad person. And being debted to China means losing your country.
When I saw the name Dharisha Bastians who obviously is a puppet of the Ranil Wickremasinghe government, is indirectly white washing them. Why doesn't he speak about the millions of money that the current government has been using for their own purposes, like getting new cars, and going to the US for medical treatment, when the ordinary people cannot afford the treatment. Please don't try to show that this current government is the best for the country, whereas, people in Sri Lanka knows that, what they are doing is bringing down the government. And supporting the terrorists for money.
5
Numbers speak for itself. As this article stated, Mahinda Rajapakse TRIPLED Sri Lanka’s debt in his tenure. Debt that the current government has to now sort out. This article states the facts. Nothing bias about it.
5
As a Sri Lankan, and one very attuned to what is happening in Sri Lanka, I knew that the reading of this article will get backlash by the Sri Lankan community as being biased. I want to ask, have you been to the Hambantota port? The airport? Used most of the highways? Have you seen the crazy monuments the Rajapake family have built praising themselves? Did you see the numbers this article quoted that Mahinda Rajapake has used in his campaign, millions of dollars that could have been used for the people than in giving gifts?
How has local government changed since Mahinda Rajapakse's new party gained power in the recent local elections? Can you name any success stories where local government led the new party have actually made good changes? Have you seen how much of debt his vanity landed us? Have you been to the Colombo Port City project? How many of the workers going in are Sri Lankans? If the jobs from the already built Port and Airport didn't materialize, do you expect anymore to come if the Rajapakse's regain power?
I do not support the current government. We need a complete change, better leadership not dependent on legacy and nepotism, but giving back power to the Rajapakse's means selling our soul. The beliefs of the Rajapakse followers have brought more division and conflict than unity and prosperity. The current government is not doing any better either. What we need to recognize is that the solution is no longer either/or. But we are too ignorant to do that.
2
China has learned well from the West! If you can conquer a people with debt you need not shed a drop of blood but the end result is the same if not better.
Make no mistake, China's navy will start making use of the port. A small concession on interest will be all that it takes.
China's net is extending far and wide. They have already claimed and are pillaging the fisheries in the South China Sea. African farmland is being snapped up. China's military will be there to defend all of these interests so that in the coming global-warming induced famines the Chinese populace will remain docile and well-fed.
The Chinese play a long game and they are playing it well. Bravo!
12
Bravo, really? Preying on poor nations, deleting the world's food's resources solely to advance your nationalistic policies is admirable? I still prefer the Marshall Plan. At least that policy offered real benefits to the "conquered".
3
Spheres of Influence - just like pre-boxer rebellion in China
1
The United States no longer has any friends of allies. Naturally, it makes sense that Russia and China will step in.
3
How China and Sri Lanka formed a mutually beneficial relationship.
We all see how China is very smartly using that "mutually beneficial relationship" as their main foreign policy thrust.
1
Next in line to be trapped is Pakistan by allowing China to build road across entire Pakistan for connection to harbor.
This is new way to rule the world.
Britishers did by looting and using power, China is doing by putting small countries in debt load.
3
Outside of outright invasion, this has been the primary strategy for world domination by the US and Europe. We've used this approach regularly in Africa and South America.
However, that was for freedom, democracy and capitalism, so it was cool. Never mind that it consistently resulted in repression, exploitation, impoverishment and the rise of dictators.
But China is doing it, so it must be terrible and we must be concerned. Got it.
39
This article details the difference between a government - whether democratic or totalitarian - which has a cohesive foreign policy and economic plan, and the current American buffoonery where international corporations are making off with the family jewels while reality TV keeps the family entertained.
15
The headline suggests this was all due to China conniving, and the article simply does not support that. A Sri Lankan politician who had dreams of adequacy basically drove this whole process to soothe his ego or whatever, but China did NOT induce this man to build a port and keep expanding it and the surrounding areas. They took advantage of his egotism, but they did not cause it; and evidence is that they behaved just like any other capitalist operation (including the Mafia), and took him to the cleaners when he couldn't meet his agreed-upon obligations. Please quit blaming China or Russia for everything wrong in the world until you have the EMPIRICAL evidence to support the claim: "experts" opinions, suppositions, logical conclusions, etc., are NOT empirical evidence, and should not be utilized except in support of empirical evidence. I would encourage you to apply this standard to ALL of your reporting.
28
Well said!!
Only pure hypocrisy could invite criticism of the way China does business around the world and its potential to subvert the sovereignty of "smaller' nations: Top 10 Contractors in Iraq, Afghanistan: 1. KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown and Root) U.S.
2. DynCorp International (Veritas Capital) U.S.
3. Washington Group International U.S.
4. IAP Worldwide Services (Cerberus Capital Management) U.S.
5. Environmental Chemical Corporation U.S.
6. L-3 Communications Holdings U.S.
7. Fluor Corporation U.S.
8. Perini Corporation U.S.
9. Orascom Construction Industries (Eqypt)
10. Parsons Corporation (U.S.)
At least China seems to carpet bomb 3rd world people with cash rather than high explosives.
35
Oh my! Once again those horrible Chinese are leaving a trail of highways, hospitals, ports and highspeed rail infrastructure in their wake. Who will save these poor countries from this inisdious plague of development? Far better if the Chinese adopt the current US foreign development aid model heavy on the weapons systems and military training side. Sure. I know what you are saying. The Chinese are great if you want to borrow money to invest and jointly build things like high speed rail, roads, hospitals and infrastructure. But when it comes to blowing things up and tearing things down or preparing to invade your neigbor. (And you know you want to!) Come see us. And don't let that "Democracy Promotion"/human rights nonsense deter you. We're a plutocracy and haven't been anything close to a real democracy for the last 30 years and we've had no qualms arming to the teeth ("developing") and directly assisting a theocratic medieval gender apartheid state responsible for what the UN has described as the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet. So come on down to Crazy Don's! It's under new management but still no unreasonable offer refused. And by the way like almost all "development" loans ours like practically everybody elses will be "tied" to those "loans"being used to purchase our own goods and services (Buy American!) and these days we pretty much just make weapons that blow things up and complicated financial instruments that will wreck your economy. So take your pick!
42
Excellent writing style. You should write a book explaining the American economy.
1
Very nice. China is like a payday lender.
17
This is because of Sri Lanka's and India's weakness. USA can not be everywhere. India needs to be stronger and act stratagically smarter. Otherwise, China could be the new colonizers, following the British example, two centuries later.
5
What strikes me is that the Chinese government was able to achieve it's ends without throwing around a lot of gratuitous insults or openly bullying anybody. There's much to be said about the old adage that it's not so much what you say, but how you say it. The real problem for America at the moment Trump and his supporters seem to think that talking tough while spewing a bunch of insults and nonsensical "alternate" facts -- like, for example, that imaginary trade deficit the US has with Canada -- are ends in and of themselves. That's not going to work out well.
13
Chinese have made similar investments in many other Asian countries like Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Laos. They also have invested heavily in Greece. They practically own Pakistan having financed Gwadar port and the road linking Xinjiang and Kashmir. They are furiously buying US tech companies. Many US states (especially the blue states) are in deep fiscal hole due to underfunded and over-promised public sector salary/pension benefits. US states cannot declare bankruptcy and therefore have to sell assets to fulfill their promise. So next off, it will be Bay bridge on sale. The day US allowed China's ascension to WTO, they effectively sealed the world's fate. US oligarchs sold China the rope with which China is going to hang the US and the rest of the world.
13
As a Sri Lankan myself, this is deeply saddening to read about. Our country has so much potential that it can utilize, now that the war has ended, yet it is burdened by the weight of debt. This poignant article was necessary to shed light into the situation in Sri Lanka, which many of the other major reporters have consistently overlooked. If the Rajapakse family gets re-elected in 2020, the country will continue to spiral downwards into the hands of the Chinese. Despite the negative feasibility study, this unnecessary port was built to satisfy the selfish desires of Mahinda Rajapakse, and now our country has to pay (for the next 99 years) to his idiotic decision-making process. Thank for NYT for this insightful article. Very well investigated and written.
19
China owns a lot of the US's debt. I wonder how what kind of extortionate pressures it can apply as a result. I rather expect with our current kleptocracy and devoted deplorables, the mother of all yard sales may happen in the next few years.
Know thy enemies.
15
Pakistan is walking into a similar situation with China on China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Gwadar will be a strategic acquisition for China on to the Arabian Sea and right near the source of oil . China hopes to ship this oil across Pakistan to its western border Xingjian.Rumblings within Pakistan compare this to another East India Company.
6
Tony Soprano would be proud.
4
China is playing the long game while our lying and foul mouthed , clueless, twitter-in-chief is throwing tantrums on twitter
27
Why all this sounds so familiar? Oh yeah, right, I guess the Chinese read the western colonialist books on how to get rich quick. This is the sad history of our little blue planet. Just follow the "Golden Rule", those who have the gold make the rules.
9
The European and American imperial rampage over the past centuries pioneered the model of using "faster bullet" and debt mixed with recipient corruption which succeeded beyond their wildest imagination. The Chinese are copying the white man who should be flattered.
8
We have our spheres of influence ( Latin America , NATO) China needs their ‘s . Only fair
7
They see theirs as the world.
This is more than spreading the sphere of influence. This is colonizing or subjugating a country through debt as per John Adams. In the not too distant past the British used sword to build their empire and now the Chinese are using their money. One can now see in a very near future, the Chinese Empire spreading to the four corners of the world. And we are all sleep-walking through it.
1
This is exceptional reporting. From this, China continues to have military designs towards India and its other neighbors.
23
And this is how a new colonial power is born - through being a predatory lender! China has managed to grab the entire South China sea. It has now started the process of colonizing Sri Lanka. The Maldives is another country where China has followed the same playbook. Its land grab follows a well known strategy of inching forward month after month and changing facts on the ground but always below the threshold of actual war. And always backed by a claim of some map from hundreds of years back. Where false maps cannot be concocted predatory lending does the trick. China is the most dangerous colonial power to have emerged since the heyday of western colonial powers in the 19th century. Of course the rest of the world is now too weak to resist. As with the past, so too with China that its colonial ambitions are built on the transfer of manufacturing power to create an imbalance on which it then builds its ambitions. The West was foolish to transfer skills and money to create a power with the ambitions to colonize the world.
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Malaysia's PM Mahathir: “I went to Japan and I told the Japanese that Malaysia has had relations with China for nearly 2,000 years with no conquests,”
“You compare that with the Portuguese who came to Melaka in 1509. Two years later they conquered Melaka. So who are we supposed to be afraid of? China or the Europeans?
12
There’s more to the story. India ended up buying the airport adjoining the sea port so that China wouldn’t be able to build a naval base.
16
Meanwhile, on the West coast they've been buying up real estate like gangbusters. I'd hate to read in a few years that they've used this to gain some sort of leverage over the US.
We'd better turn around this economic situation before we get isolated.
18
Not just the west coast. China has purchased hundreds of thousands of acres in the west that contain aquifers. But our Congress will not enact legislation that limits foreign investment. Hmm, wonder why. When Trump suggested this in a tweet the far left went crazy! But guess that's just a part of the 'resistance' - resist everything to spite yourselves.
4
Will America sell failing ports like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and a number of great Lakes port cities for the cost of a casino-hotel franchise elsewhere?
11
Russia certainly might interested in buying these ports...and Trump would love to sell them in exchange for some prime hotel and casino properties in Russia. But we Americans deserve EVERY bad end that Trump brings upon our heads.
1
This grotesque case was reported many times, but NYT did a very good job with a crystal clear message to anyone following Belt and Road and wondering about the dark cloud of Chinese "soft power" (democratic places like Australia, NZ included). The Chinese are simply doing what they have been doing for centuries at home so that they do not see anything wrong in what they do (rather than asking for a port more directly, they use corruption and corrosive tactics that deeply damage nations like Sri Lanka). There are already many places in the Pacific where nations are being submerged by water and by debt. In Eastern Europe, Greece, Portugal there are cases of similar kind.
13
Sri Lanka "handed over the port and 15,000 acres of land around it for 99 years." Ironic, as it's just like the British lease on Hong Kong (to which Beijing objected as a breach of sovereignty).
112
Your comparison is totally absurd. The British lease of Hong Kong, and all the other port concessions to GB and other colonial powers in China, did involve a transfer of sovereignty. China had no more sovereignty over these territories, they were under the legislation and military power of the colonial powers, and that's why they could be used as basis for drug trafficking, as military bases etc. This is not at all the case of land sold or leased by Sri Lanka to Chinese SOEs, or to companies of any other country. This land remains entirely under Sri Lankan sovereignty and is entirely subjected to Sri Lankan law and can therefore not be use for military purposes. The assertion by the author that "the [Sri Lankan] government holds no sovereignty over the port’s land" is simply fake news, and it's sad to see how many people buy such total nonsense. Nowadays, no such deal, be it with China or any other country, contains a clause of exterritoriality, as was the case with colonial possessions in China.
8
If you are so sure that the writers are lying, prove it by providing a quote from the deal.
So what was the Chinese military submarine doing in the Sri Lankan port when Sri Lanka said it didn't want any military vessels there? Your contradiction would be more credible if it had some fact and substance to it, as the NYT had in this article.
2
99 Year Lease? Sound familiar? Why, that was the way the British took control of part of a large area called "Hong Kong". I believe there was a lot of Chinese Communist screaming that this constituted "Colonialism". Well, welcome to the new Colonialism, with the Chinese Communist Party in control.
37
Do not forget the former American lease of the Panama Canal, or the current Guantanamo deal.
3
So that NYT map shows 35 ports. Perhaps some will eventually be converted to military use. What's wrong with that?
Every great power needs to protect its interests around the world.
Compare that map with this map (www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-wor..., which shows US military bases (not ports) around the world. The US maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 foreign countries and territories.
So the article is somewhat interesting. But really, it's not a big deal for China to use various legal means to secure a foothold in various countries.
36
Yes, it is shameful what China is doing and has done to Sri Lanka but isn’t it exactly what Goldman Sacs did to Greece?
35
Um, nope. That's not what Goldman Sacs did to Greece. They didn't take over their port, or their resorts, or anything else. They made them pay back on an agreed upon loan, and lost when they couldn't pay. As did the Germans and EU, but then I guess you think that they shouldn't have gotten a loan. Maybe we all pony up a $1 from our taxes for Greece and another $1 Italy (the next failed state)?
4
Nothing to see here, folks: It is merely China taking control of the world.
The "progressive" thing to do is to keep raising the anti-Russian fever. Yeah, that's the ticket! That will bring on a "Blue Wave."
Not.
9
Meanwhile, the current US government thing to do is launch an incoherent tariff initiative that in long run will damage the US economy and facilitate China's strategic goals.
6
This article is China-bashing and fear mongering, based on fake news. How comes that neither the author, nor the editors of the NYT are able to make the difference between selling (or leasing) land and "control of territory" or "sovereignty"? When Sri Lanka sells land to a Chinese SOE, this land remains under Sri Lankan sovereignty and is still subjected to Sri Lankan laws. Claiming that China got "control of territory" through these deals, or that the Sri Lankan government "holds no sovereignty over the port’s land" are simply fake news.
Furthermore, when a warship docks at a foreign port, it has to ask the government of that country for authorization, and China always does this. Claiming that Sri Lankan officials have got "little control" over Chinese submarines docking at Sri Lankan ports is simply fake news, and expresses total contempt for the Sri Lankan government.
These fake news are then used to frame the whole article into a colonial narrative which reminds us of what the Western colonial powers did in China and many other places: gunboat diplomacy, exterritoriality of concession ports, etc. However, none of this is factually true in this case.
I do respect the NYT as reliable source of information, that's why I am a subscriber, but this article has got a massive problem. I hope that it can be addressed.
48
Wake up Otto and smell the coffee! This is not China bashing. Its simply illustrating how China is gradually gaining a vice like grip on the world economy.
They play by entirely different rules to the "rules based system" that the United States has painstakingly created for the world economy.
These tactics are a variation of what they did in the South China Sea. First, build artificial islands. Second, declare that the entire South China Sea belongs to China. Third, take aggressive military action against those that challenge their assertions.
Only a naive and gullible person would put this down to "China bashing".
Look at how they treat the Citizens of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Look at China's treatment of Tibet and Uighurs.
Or how about their treatment of Chinese citizens who practice Falun Gong?
Or people who mention Whinny the Poo?
Sorry, any country that has a population of 1.4 Billion people, (arguably) the worlds largest economy, the worlds largest military force of 2,285,000, an aggressive form of authoritarian government, with a penchant for playing by their own rules is a serious threat to a world run by a "rules based system".
America and the rest of the world would be fools not to take this threat seriously.
What Amazes me is that the Republican Party and the current President are seemingly oblivious to this threat. They seem determined to destroy the alliances and structure that keep this threat in check.
108
This comment reads like fake indignation suspiciously similar to the standard Chinese government grievance-laden narrative.
12
I hope New York Times will make the lease agreement it says has obtained available for public review. It's questionable that the article states Sri Lanka has no sovereignty to the port and surrounding land. NYT should at least provide the readers with relevant provisions of the agreement as proof.
1
Although, it is difficult to prove intent, there is a lot evidence following the money trail across power structures.
Indebtedness fuels negative outcomes that last generations. Congrats on your impressive reporting and photojournalism.
31
American and other western countries need to be cautious to allow Chinese companies to buy our companies and also while dealing with the Chinese at any level in the world.
Allowing Chinese companies to invest in majority stake is almost synonymous to handing over one's sovereignty to Chinese Govt, far worse than any investor and financiers in the World. It's consequences go far beyond that country and has implications on global peace and security.
Moreover, without any any obligation to answer its own people or opposition or face election, autocratic communist Chinese Govt are ready to support any extremist movement without slightest regard for human rights, openly interfere in domestic politics and fund preferred political party/candidate in that host country, if that fulfill Chinese Govt objectives. Chinese Govt has excellent ability to lie and hide behind shrewd pretensions. It's the almost same tactics that other dictatorial countries like North Korea and Russia use- who has undergone Communist rule.
38
The USA appears to be caught napping as China builds infrastructure in Asia and Africa. Not only is the infrastructure being built, but China then controls a lot of the projects with long term leasing. They're even building a huge iron ore project in a remote part of Australia. The USA had better start thinking about spheres of influence, as the Chinese do, or else the USA will fall behind in influence and power.
73
Unfortunately, the US has lost and for two reasons: First, China is growing while the USA is failing. Look at the increases to the US national debt today in a healthy economy and the fact that the Republicans felt that they could even steal more from tomorrow's taxpayers by making tax deferments (not the cuts they claim). Remember that you cannot cut taxes unless you are running a surplus! Second, and of greater significance, is the fact that the Chinese adopted more of a free market economy and when you have 5 times the consumers you will have 5 times the market growth. With higher levels of government investment in R&D your long-term growth will be even greater. China will be Number 1 in less than a generation at which time it will be interesting to see how our politicians react then.
85
America offers military bases and the Chinese comes with infrastructure development and that's why China is winning hearts and minds around the world. For instance, the Obama administration sent military people to fight the ebola epidemic in Africa, mean while, little Cuba sent the largest contingent of doctors who stayed on after the threat was gone. I bet America is building bases to house their drones that would be turned on the leaders and the people of Africa.
2
'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' by John Perkins detailed abuses by the IMF and World comes to mind. Aren't both institutions control by the U.S.?
Name one country that's developed and came out unscathed in Latin America or Africa when they took out a lone from either institution?
1
Pakistan has taken in its all weather iron friend China's ambitious joint venture CPEC, hook, line, and sinker. CPEC is extremely similar to Hambantota port.
I hope Pakistan will take time to read this excellent presentation to understand catastrophic consequences it faces.
Reading this article it is becoming clear that China, through CPEC, would snatch several assets of Pakistan and will reduce it to a Chinese colony. China has surplus industrial capacity, unemployed technical personnel and foreign exchange, which will be utilized in CPEC. China is not giving any free money and is charging high interest rates to develop infrastructural projects in smaller countries. When these countries fail to repay the loan, it grabs those projects.
In CPEC most of road and railway line would be built on Pakistan’s resources as China wants to connect its land-locked restive Province of Xinjiang from Gwadar port. Pakistan will have to repay $90 billion by 2030, easier said than done.
Islamabad is not realizing the hidden intentions of China that it wants to have permanent foothold in the country.
It's correctly said that China is another East India Company and in CPEC and has laid a death trap for Pakistan and the country because of blind hatred towards India, cannot wriggle out.
81
I hope China takes over Pakistan one day, because the locals simply have not been able to run their show for last 70 years.
And same goes for India too. After 70 years of "independence" 200 million "middle class" milking 1,000 million destitute.
3