US steps up belt and road offensive saying it offers fairer deals than China’s ‘debt trap’
- Video on US State Department website tells countries to ‘be wary’ of risks from Beijing’s infrastructure drive
- America is trying to promote its ‘fairer and more transparent’ alternative
The United States has stepped up its attacks on China’s Belt and Road Initiative claiming Washington offers a better option through “transparent, free and fair trade deals”.
ShareAmerica, a website managed by the Department of State to promote US policy and culture, warned in a new video that as China pushes the initiative, countries should be careful “not to get caught in China’s belt and road debt trap”.
The video – which has been subtitled in six other languages, including Chinese – repeated warnings from the Centre for a New American Security, a US think tank, that taking part countries would face the risk of excess debt, environmental problems and losing control of their strategic assets if they signed up for the transcontinental infrastructure project.
The clip, which urged countries to “be wary and examine the record of previous investments” was posted on April 25, the first day of the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, where China welcomed leaders from 37 countries and signed US$64 billion worth of deals.
On Thursday the US embassy in Beijing retweeted the warning in a Chinese language post.
