An excellent piece – What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s
Influence
BROOK LARMER notes:
“It’s tempting to see
OBOR [One Belt, One Road Project] as a muscled-up Marshall Plan, the
American-led program that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War II.
OBOR, too, is designed to build vital infrastructure, spread prosperity and
drive global development. Yet little of what China offers is aid or even
low-interest lending. Much OBOR financing comes in the form of market-rate
loans that weaker countries are eager to receive — but may struggle to repay.
Even when the projects are well suited for the local economy, the result can
look a bit like a shell game: Things are built, money goes to Chinese companies
and the country is saddled with more debt. What happens when, as is often the
case, infrastructure projects are driven more by geopolitical ambition or the
need to give China’s state-owned companies something to do? Well, Sri Lanka has
an empty airport for sale.”