China's Secret Weapon

What do you think is China's most powerful weapon?

DF-17Hypersonic Missile? Chengdu J-20? The number 4? Kung-Fu Panda? Or Emotional Damage!?

Well, its none of those. These are way too weak (except maybe the last one).

China's most powerful weapon is a thousand times more frightening (except maybe the last one). It does not destroy anything.....

IT TAKES CONTROL OF IT! 
The weapon I am talking about is 'The Debt Trap'.

The Debt Trap is more of a tactic than a weapon. It has been used by several nations in history. But the one that is using it the most in the 21st century is China. Using this tactic, China has successfully taken control of strategically important ports and basically entire countries.

First, let's see how the tactic works with an example.

Suppose, you want to renovate your house. But your financial condition is not good. Also, your neighbours are renovating their houses, building skyscrapers. And you are the only one with a little hut. In order to keep up with the developing neighbourhood, you try to take a loan from the bank. But, as you are financially unstable and there are constant conflicts within your family, the bank imposes a LOT of conditions. So, you decide to go to a private lender. He has a reputation for tricking people into falling into a trap where the borrowers lose their property, and he acts a little fishy. He has an arch enemy who owns the land around you. The land is very expensive and important, as a lot of traders pass through it.

The interest rate that the private lender charges is high. But the lender is not interested in the interest. He has his eyes on your property. Despite knowing this, you borrow some money out of desperation. You have to repay the money within a year. Unfortunately, due to some issues, you fail to return the amount. So, he takes control of your house. He now controls all of the major decisions in your life, and you either owe him your house or you must pay him back with enormous amounts of interest.

This is what happened with Sri Lanka. It's economy was crashing. Corruption was overshadowing the nation. The nation had descended into chaos. It had to build ports for trade, which would provide revenue. So, it went to the rich neighbour, India. It provided some money, but it was not enough. So, it went to the richer neighbour, China. It made several deals for constructing ports in Sri Lanka. But, after taking the loans, due to corruption, and a major financial crisis, Sri Lanka was unable to pay back the money. So, China took control of the ports. The largest one being Hambantota Port.

This has happened not only in Sri Lanka, but also in several other countries in Africa and Asia. For example, it has taken control of Gwadar Port, Djibouti Port, etc.

It is also important to note that Sri Lanka did not take loans from China only. The country's total debt is about 56 billion dollars. Out of which China accounts for only about 10%. The rest of it is mostly USA, UK, World Bank, etc. So, the fall of Sri Lanka is not entirely China's hypocrisy. But, the West is equally responsible for it. Moreover, it is corrupt politicians that are responsible for the downfall, not only the external powers.

In 3 words, Cuz its China.

There are 2 nations famous for hypocrisy. China and the US. But due to the extreme influence of the West, most of us view the world of geopolitics from a western filter. Which is basically, Communism is bad. Capitalism is the best. China is bad. USA is the saviour. So, China's hypocrisy is blamed everywhere.

But in this case, China is not doing this for just dominating other nations. It gains little from just taking control of ports. Also, the port is pretty insignificant as compared to the behemoths like Hong Kong that China has. So, the question strikes, WHY IS CHINA DOING THIS??!!!

Well, the answer lies not in the the poor lenders. But in the Arch Enemy. Which is, India.

India has a powerful navy. It dominates the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. All of these water bodies lie on the trade route from which oil is shipped to China. And, India's land borders are under Chinese influence. The only way to encircle India is by sea. If China prevents trade ships from reaching India, its economy will probably start to fall. So, China has come up with a tactic.

For a really cool YT short, refer this link: Expansionist China has a plan to attack India but watch till the end for India’s counter #shorts - YouTube

Also, subscribe to this guy's channel for more interesting content. BTW, he does not pay me for marketing his channel. I just like his videos. He is one of my main sources for geopolitical knowledge.

Now, back to the topic.

The String of Pearls is basically a way to take control of the major ports and airfields that surround India, in order to block trade routes to India. This tactic is just like the Belt and Road initiative, but in the waters.

China has these strategic ports that form the String of Pearls:

Hainan Island Airfield and Port

Woody Island Airfield

South China Sea Oil Drilling and Survey

Also, China has taken control of the following ports and airfields using the trap:

Kra Canal (Thailand)

Coco Islands Surveillance Facility (Myanmar)

Commercial Naval Base (Myanmar)

Chittagong Port Facility (Bangladesh)

Upgraded Port Facility (Bangladesh)

Hambantota Container Port (Sri Lanka)

Gwadar Naval Base and Surveillance Facilities (Pakistan)

Djibouti Port (Djibouti)

You may have noticed one similarity in most of these nations. Most of them are not particularly friendly towards India.

Gwadar Port and Djibouti Port surround the Arabian peninsula in the waters. So, China has immense influence on the oil trade.

Also, China is increasing its influence in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a really important choke point on many of the world's largest oil trade routes. As the world's largest oil importer, this strait is of extreme strategic importance for China.

(Also, China is able to do this as it has learnt to pounce on the right opportunity. When a country is in economic distress, China provides aid to the nation. And in some ways makes sure that the country does not recover from the problems, so that they cannot return the money.)

It looks like China has successfully used its Debt Trap to surround India. But has it really succeeded?

Well, NO. India has its own tactic to counter China. 

But that's the topic for another blog. :)

Africa is rich in gold, silver, oil and other precious metals and minerals. This may look like a good thing. But, all the immense wealth attracted plunderers from around the world. Europe in the 19th century and China in the 21st century. Africa has never been free from invaders since the invention of ships. Africa was involved in the slave trade - one of the bloodiest things that happened to humanity.

And all we see is the hardships the European powers faced during the two world wars. While we ignore these bloody actions of the colonisers in not just Africa but every colonised nation.

In this case, China seems to be comparitively better for Africans. Well, comparatively, a grenade is better than a nuke too.

China has been using its debt trap diplomacy in Africa too. The African nations rely heavily on mining natural resources. Due to the financial condition of the countries, some of them cannot afford to do so or do not have the required technology. China, on the other hand, has powerful mining technology. They also provide loans to the countries under development initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative. And the nations fall for the trap.

While the loans allow faster development, it takes its toll after some years. China's investments in the African mines provide them with important metals, and they basically take control of the mines.

This is not good for African countries. As in this process, only China is developing. China is getting richer, and the Africans are left poor.

The answer is: NO.

This tactic is used by almost every economic heavyweight.

But recently, we have seen another example.

The US provided a lot of military aid to Ukraine. In fact, the US is the reason why Ukraine lasted so long. Otherwise, it would have fallen way quicker. But now that Trump is in office, he is demanding 500 billion dollars worth of rare earth metals. A demand that is putting pressure on Ukraine. That too, in a situation that is threatening its sovereignty.

So, its not just China that is the bad guy. Even the West bullies desperate little nations.

What we learn from all this is that if a nation wants to survive in this self-centred world, it must be strong - economically, militarily, and diplomatically.

That's the end of the blog! Hope you liked it. Subscribe for more interesting blogs!. Also, share your views in the comment.

Coming up, my next blog about how India is countering China's strategy.

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