Nations of the Pacific Islands are striving for development and prosperity. They need more engagement by the US and G7 as an antidote to China's assertiveness.
After granting huge loans to poorer countries in dire need of developmental funds, China offers to relax loan terms in exchange for "strategic concessions."
Sri Lanka remains extremely vulnerable to China's predatory economic tentacles, with grave implications for key stakeholders such as India and Japan.
Sri Lanka is strategically located at the crossroads of major shipping routes important to India and Japan and urgently needs help resolving its debt crisis.
Taking advantage of the Islands’ poverty, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm in and around Australia and New Zealand’s strategic backyard.
The Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development will be held August 27-28 as Russia and China seek to extend their influence in the continent.
The country has defaulted on $51 billion USD of foreign debt, while warning of worsening fuel and food shortages amidst continuing public outrage.
Sri Lanka, a nucleus of the Indian Ocean region and the free and open Indo-Pacific, faces unprecedented instability in the wake of Chinese financial entanglements.
This happens as Chinese companies aggressively seek inroads in Pacific Island nations in the areas of cable and cell phone operations and port facilities.
It was China that started the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, China uses the debt it forced onto others in a global recession to demand gratitude and obedience...