Cambodia Defends China’s BRI Against Debt-Trap Accusation

Cambodia defends China’s Belt and Road Initiative BRI as critics raise debt trap concerns, with Sun Chanthol citing investment and trade.
A toll gate on the Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville expressway, seen on April 7, 2025. (Photo: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP)

China’s Belt and Road Initiative drew a forceful defense from Cambodia’s leadership this week, even as the accusations, mainly from the U.S. and its allies, over “debt-trap diplomacy” continue to shadow Beijing’s flagship infrastructure program.

The phrase, coined in 2017 after Sri Lanka leased its Hambantota port to a Chinese company for 99 years when it could not repay loans, entered wider circulation after then–U.S. vice president Mike Pence cited it in a speech.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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