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China Refines Its Rebuttal to Persistent Debt Trap Accusations

by Eric Olander
HEADLINE TRANSLATION: "Western private lenders are the cause of Africa's heavy debts"

No matter how often the Chinese debt trap narrative is refuted by leading scholars around the world, policymakers in the U.S. and Europe seem unable to resist using the trope to frame China’s engagement in Africa and other developing regions.

United States Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, revived the allegation again last week before accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a three-nation African tour. 

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