A number of prominent U.S. and European financial news outlets including the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal among others are visibly struggling in their reporting of Chinese debt stories in the Global South.

There’s a certain formula that’s emerged in much of the coverage over the past 12-18 months: journalists will frame stories around the debt trap narrative, which although debunked by experts in the field is still nonetheless widely believed among many policymakers, and then midway through the article there’s a passing acknowledgment of one or more of the following: