{"id":67,"date":"2020-06-02T12:06:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T12:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/?p=67"},"modified":"2020-06-02T12:06:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T12:06:35","slug":"chinas-soft-power-global-engagement-inherent-problems-and-effects-on-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/2020\/06\/02\/chinas-soft-power-global-engagement-inherent-problems-and-effects-on-partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s soft power global engagement, inherent problems, and effects on partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul><li><strong>Report by US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyses China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing\u2019s leading global investment program<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington, D.C.: When the pandemic subsides, the economic devastation will preoccupy governments worldwide for months to come. China will present itself as a partner for the economic recovery. China\u2019s approach to economic recovery globally may come with waste, fraud and political manipulation. These risks have not dissuaded potential partners previously, who hoped to tap into the more than ten-fold expansion of the Chinese economy over the past three decades.&nbsp;<br><br>The tide may be turning. Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has just released \u2018Below the Belt and Road: Corruption and Illicit Dealings in China\u2019s Global Infrastructure,\u2019 an in-depth analysis of China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its flagship program for external investment. The report\u2019s author, Elaine Dezenski, suggests that \u201cBeijing\u2019s partners may become saddled with expensive but under-utilised infrastructure, massive debt, and political instability.\u201d<br><br>Dezenski serves on FDD\u2019s Board of Advisors of the Center on Economic and Financial Power and is a senior advisor to K2 Financial Integrity Network.<br><br>One of the cases studies in the report focuses on Chinese investments in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka\u2019s Hambantota Port has become a focal point for debate about the BRI. When the country could not pay back its debt, the China asserted ownership over the port and other important assets. American officials often cite this case to support the claim that China is engaged in \u201cdebt-trap diplomacy.\u201d&nbsp;<br><br>A rigorous review of the evidence, however, suggests that Port Hambantota is less an example of debt-trap diplomacy or an intentional seizure of key assets. Rather, it is an example of corruption and cronyism backfiring on both the Chinese and their local partners.<br><br>The project, which feasibility studies questioned from the beginning, required more than $1 billion in loans from China \u2013 loans that theoretically would be repaid from port proceeds. After the port was built, no one came. Unable to make payments on the debt, Sri Lankan authorities agreed to surrender the lease on the port and surrender land to a Chinese company, in exchange for a release from financial obligations.<br><br>\u201cMore than an example of debt entrapment, the Sri Lankan port fiasco is a story of the dangers of corruption,\u201d according to the FDD report\u2019s author. Chinese officials used the project to funnel millions of dollars to former President Rajapaksa\u2019s 2015 election coffers, Dezenski explains.<br><br>Dezenski also writes that the Sri Lankan case raises crucial questions about the economic viability of BRI projects and the ultimate purpose of BRI funds as well. \u201cIs China loaning massive amounts of money to build infrastructure or to buy allegiance, or perhaps both,\u201d she asks. What happens when loans cannot be repaid? Is Sri Lanka \u201can outlier or a harbinger?\u201d<br><br>The 29-page report also outlines US policy recommendations that \u201cprovide BRI recipients with an alternative to dependence on Beijing.\u201d<br><br>First, it recommends promoting a \u201cglobal dialogue and foreign investment strategy that pushes anti-corruption and transparency to the top of the agenda.\u201d In addition to demonstrating a sustainable, safer model of bilateral investment, the US should \u201ccontinue its outspoken support for multilateral anti-corruption and governance conventions of development institutions such as the World Bank, United Nations, and OECD.\u201d<br><br>Second, the US and its allies should \u201cdouble down\u201d on its support for \u201canti-corruption standards and norms across global businesses, banks, governmental institutions, and supporting organisations.\u201d This includes strengthening \u201cnew equity investments \u2026 that attracts partners, reduces governance risks, and offers viable alternatives to countries that seek a better way of building public infrastructure.\u201d Third, the report recommends increasing \u201cpressure on China to prosecute the foreign corrupt practices of its State Own Enterprises, private firms, and nationals.\u201d It highlights that China\u2019s \u201clittle inclination to pursue Chinese-driven corruption that occurs abroad\u201d merits action.&nbsp;<br><br>Lastly, the report recommends supporting \u201cBRI recipient countries in the impartial adjudication of corruption disputes, including stolen asset recovery,\u201d especially since \u201cdeveloping countries are often unable to prosecute grand corruption cases arising from BRI projects\u201d and therefore, often \u201chave no choice but to turn to the contractually mandated system of Chinese arbitration, which are unlikely to address either grand corruption or asset recovery.\u201d&nbsp;<br><br>Dezenski concludes that \u201crenewed trust is the real dividend of these efforts, as global citizens reap the benefits of high-quality infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image_06a80e328b-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image_06a80e328b-1.jpg 770w, https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image_06a80e328b-1-300x184.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image_06a80e328b-1-768x472.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/><figcaption><strong>Sri Lanka\u2019s Hambantota Port has become a focal point for debate about the BRI. When the country could not pay back its debt, the China asserted ownership over the port and other important assets. American officials often cite this case to support the claim that China is engaged in \u201cdebt-trap diplomacy\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Report by US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyses China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinanews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}