The Western caricature of Chinese “debt-trap diplomacy” ignores the realities of China’s economic presence in Central Asia. What is emerging across the region is not dependency but interdependence, as Chinese foreign direct investment finances industrialization and mutually beneficial infrastructure projects.
BISHKEK – For years, Western pundits have treated China’s economic presence in Central Asia as a source of friction, particularly its loans and investments, which were portrayed as “debt traps.” But this cliché is as tiresome as it is analytically lazy.
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