I found this article very intriguing. I would be very interested to know the extent that the countries involved in the BRI are actually benefiting and how its affecting their people. It breifly mentioned that a lot of these loans have been tying commodity-supply deals into their contracts, and I wonder how the communities in the area feel about it, how it affects the economics and even possibly the freedom of the country in the future, how “fair” terms are determined, and basically just expand on that topic as a wole. I would also like to know more about the quality of these of these projects.
I think that it is the international community’s responsibility to hold China, and other foreign lenders, accountable for what they say they will do vs. what actually happens. However, I don’t belive it is the UN or the world as a whole’s responsibility to make sure that developing countries spend their money well. As soveriegn countries they have to make their own decisions and live with them, the more developed world is not their babysitter. I know that may sound harsh, but if developing countries are treated as though the are unable to make any decisions by themselves they will only become more and more dependent on more developed countries preventing these less developed countries from ever becoming their equals. That being said, I do think its very important to not let China cheat its way through the whole globe. It is the international community’s responsibility to hold China to the standard outlined in the contracts they make and to make sure that China is holding up their end of whatever bargain is being made.