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The Once Frenetic Debate Over Chinese Debt in Africa Has All But Disappeared

by Eric Olander

China’s top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng, posted a tweet today that restated China’s often-repeated position about its commitment to implement the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative and to help “alleviate debt pressure on African countries.”

It’s not exactly clear what prompted Ambassador Wu to post the tweet, given that he shared an image of Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying the same thing from two weeks ago. Nonetheless, it served as a reminder of just how much the debate over Chinese debt in Africa (and, of course, all that rhetoric about “debt traps”) has receded.

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