Peter J. Welling III Professor Brewer Data Science 12 October 2021
After reading the article “Hidden Debt Plagues China's Belt and Road Infrastructure Plan, Studies Find'' there were many questions from the reading that needed to be addressed. One of the questions was, during the Belt and Road Initiative, does China simply act as a large bank and fund projects in these developing nations or do they also supply labor and construct these projects for foriegn nations? Another question is why doesnt China examine the nation and see if they are worthy enough of paying these debts back? According to AidData, a research center at the College of William and Mary, found that over 40 countries that borrowed from China, they’re debt had exceeded 10 percent of the gross national product. This is concerning for China because these loans are way too big for these small countries to pay back and with the effects that covid brought also make this situation much worse. I want to learn more about the fine details that go into these projects to see what they consist of. I am curious on how China allocates its money and the time frame in which they expect their capital to return. The international community should definitely have some sort of role in situations like these. The United Nations should have some role in overseeing the transferring of money from one nation to another and see if the country taking on the debt can return it fully with interest. This could cause conflict in the future if smaller nations simply can't pay back their debts and could lead to something far larger.