China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, hailed as the “project of the century”, faced major setbacks last year after a number of partnering countries scrapped their deals on worries that the high construction costs could weigh on their national debt.
A number of Asian developing countries including Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar have either suspended or scaled back their infrastructure projects with China since the beginning of 2018.
This massive backlash came in the wake of China’s takeover of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port in July 2017, sparking widespread concern that Beijing may end up seizing these assets if the countries are unable to settle the heavy debt...
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