Written by: Timothy Martin
Edited by: Constanza Grajales
Colonialism is the practice of taking full or partial control over another territory, in order to occupy it with settlers and exploit it economically (Merriam-Webster, 2024). The era of overt global colonialism has passed, however, numerous countries are engaging in similar practices today, most notably China, with its Belt and Road Initiative. Through this initiative, China is gaining influence throughout the Third World by providing services and money to these countries in exchange for access to resources, money, and power, among others. Their arrangements, while appearing mutually beneficial on the surface, largely end up putting the assisted country in a position of dependency on China, whether it be taking over ports in Sri Lanka or exploiting the critical minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. It is designed to encourage Chinese investment and influence across the globe by funding physical infrastructure and loaning money. The BRI is often compared to a modern-day Silk Road, with China creating a global trading and political alliance. Today the BRI encompasses more than 150 countries, making up two-thirds of the world’s population and 40% of its GDP giving China unparalleled global influence. Beyond just economic influence, the BRI gives China political influence to coerce other nations into agreeing with its more controversial stances, such as the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and recognition of Taiwan. An example of this advantage can be seen in January 2022 when Nicaragua joined the BRI a month after it ended its diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Through lending money and building infrastructure, China enters into predatory debt repayment agreements with many Third World countries. Many of these agreements allow China to recall debt at any time and prevent them from receiving financing from leading Western countries. These agreements often include contracts with Chinese companies such as Huawei installing 5G networks. In certain countries over 20% of their GDP is owed in debt to China.
The influence of the BRI is widespread with countries such as Greece and Hungary taking money to build a new port and a railway respectively. This again ties into political influence as it makes it harder for the EU to fight against China when two-thirds of its members have joined the BRI. Greece and Hungary in particular have fought against EU efforts to criticize China. One of the most egregious examples of China using their power gained from the BRI debt is the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka. Despite numerous other lenders refusing to give Sri Lanka the money for the port due to concerns over being paid back, China loaned them the money. The port was placed along one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, yet only 34 ships arrived in 2012. This was until China took over due to Sri Lanka’s inability to pay back the loans. The Chinese government signed a deal to own the port for the next 99 years, which gave China control of a key port just off the coast of one its main rivals in India, and joined the over 35 other ports China has funded worldwide in the last decade. The port demonstrateshow the Chinese government takes advantage of Third World countries in need of money and then plays hardball in the repayment negotiations to give themselves disproportionate power in the state for their investment. The same story can be seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo where China paid for public infrastructure investment in exchange for access to the critical mineral mines, which has now led to China controlling 80% of the world’s critical minerals processing, while the DRC gets next to nothing.
While not being as obvious as the colonialism of yesteryear with ships and men violently taking over foreign countries, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has a similar economic endpoint. China is taking advantage of countries in weakened positions to gain disproportionate influence and power despite relatively small investments, all under the guise of improving these countries. The countries of the Global South that are disadvantaged due to historical colonial extraction are now being taken advantage of once more through China’s new-age colonialism which gives them the same access to resources without the military force.
References:
Image Source: pixabay, https://pixabay.com/photos/chinese-flag-flutter-china-beijing-540874/
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