Belt and Road Initiative not a debt trap – official
Credit to Author: BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO| Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2019 16:22:04 +0000
CHINA has described as “groundless” the fears raised by some critics that countries, including the Philippines, that availed of loans under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would fall into a debt trap.
At the Belt and Road China-Philippines Forum in Pasay City on Friday, Tan Qingsheng, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Manila, said this, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the BRI in 2013 to promote open and inclusive economic cooperation.
More than 160 countries and international organizations have signed agreements with Beijing on this cooperation.
“The so-called China debt trap is completely groundless. The BRI is a ‘pie’ for everyone to share, not a ‘pitfall’ that hinders development,” Tan said.
The BRI is a peaceful development platform, “not a geopolitical tool,” he added. “China has no intention to seek any sphere of influence or gain any geopolitical advantage through the BIR.”
“The BRI is a public good, not a private property. China initiated the very idea, but the BRI platform is owned and equally participated by all participating countries.”
According to Tan, the BRI is a bridge for understanding, not a source for confrontation.
“Our strategic goal is to connect diverse cultures and different civilizations for peaceful coexistence,” he said.
The countries along the Belt and Road are encouraged to step up friendly cooperation in the Silk and Road tradition by promoting extensive, cultural, academic, media and other people to people exchanges, he added.
“In the past six years, the total trade volume between China and countries [participating] in the BRI has exceeded $6 trillion, and China’s investment has grown to over $80 billion and around 300,000 jobs have been created in the countries involved.”
The Philippines, he said, is an important developing country with great potential and is a natural partner in jointly building the BRI.
Tan also pointed out that President Rodrigo Duterte had attended both the first and second Belt and Road Forum International Cooperation in China.
“Our countries are committed to strengthening the synergies between the BRI and the Build, Build, Build program,” he said, referring to the government’s ambitious infrastructure program.
The development of bilateral relations has brought tangible benefits to the Chinese and Filipino people, according to the Chinese official.
Bilateral trade volume in 2018 reached $55.7 billion, an 8.5-percent increase year-on-year.
“Under the strategic guidelines of our two leaders, China-Philippines relations have entered a golden era with the three major pillars of our bilateral relations, namely, political and security coordination, economic cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges have been greatly strengthened,” Tan said.
Over the past three years, China has provided about $400 million in grants and $273 million in soft loans to bolster infrastructure development in the Philippines.
However, Tan said “good state-to-state relations hinge upon close people-to-people exchanges and heart-to-heart communication.”
“Even though we have made a lot of progress in promoting people tp people exchanges between our two countries, we cannot deny that our knowledge of each other is still quite limited,” he added.
“The other challenge for us is the trust deficit. In our bilateral relations, sometimes a simple incident or a single issue can be blown out of proportion.”
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