For the past year or so, senior U.S. government officials been accusing China of engaging in so-called “debtbook” diplomacy, a tactic that Washington contends intentionally burdens developing countries with billions of dollars of loans. When these countries, many of them some of the poorest in the world, invariably can’t pay them back, Beijing extracts concessions that further China’s geopolitical interests, according to the theory that is now widely held among U.S. politicians, academics, and strategists. Just before they graduated with master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, then students Gabrielle Chefitz and Sam Parker wrote a paper on the subject that went viral, at least among those in the close nit U.S. national security community. Sam and Gabrielle join Eric & Cobus to talk about China’s so-called “debt book diplomacy” strategy and how specifically how it applies in Africa. Join the discussion. Do you agree with U.S. national security officials who believe that Beijing is intentionally burdening lesser developed countries in Africa and other regions with unsustainable amounts of debt? Or, instead, do you think the United States is misreading the situation for its own political gain as a way to scare countries from becoming too engaged with China? Let us know what you think. Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @samwparker33 | @gchefitz Email: eric@chinaafricaproject.com Show Notes: The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government: China's Strategic Leveraging of its Newfound Economic Influence and the Consequences for U.S. Foreign Policy by Sam Parker and Gabrielle Chifetz The Diplomat: China’s Debtbook Diplomacy: How China is Turning Bad Loans into Strategic Investments by Sam Parker and Gabrielle Chifetz CNN.com: China using 'debtbook diplomacy' to spread its strategic aims in Asia Pacific by Ben Westcott Sign up today for the weekly China-Africa email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dtNEij
This week Eric & Cobus speak with a pair of recent graduates from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government who wrote a paper on China's so-called "Debtbook Diplomacy" agenda that was widely circulated in the U.S. national security community.