It’s well known that China has the world’s largest navy and coastguard—the result of a tenfold increase in military spending since 1995—which it uses to advance its pugnacious revisionism. But there are also numerous lesser-known—indeed, …
Tag Archive for: "debt-trap diplomacy"
In September 2014, Sri Lanka stirred the embers of conflict in the Indian Ocean region by allowing Chinese naval vessels to dock at one of its ports. At the time, India took issue with the …
Last week’s news of a Chinese couple’s audacious plot to set up a mini-state in the Republic of the Marshall Islands by allegedly bribing members of parliament and officials was deeply disturbing: if successful, it …
For nearly two decades, the four Rajapaksa brothers and their sons have run Sri Lanka like a family business—and a disorderly one, at that. With their grand construction projects and spendthrift ways, they saddled Sri …
The rapidly deteriorating state of Papua New Guinea’s economy is presenting serious challenges for the PNG government, which is already struggling to finance its 2020 budget. But another factor looms as an equal, if not …